فهرست مطالب ابوالفضل عرب بیگی

The visual characteristic of ceramic like other works of art in the Qajar period (19th century Iran), underwent fundamental transformation and followed the dominant trend in the art of the period. This trend showed significant differences from the previous ones. Such changes were most evident in the field of ceramic coloring due to a variety of emerging color spectrums, which had no antecedent in the Persian ceramic before, nor had they emerged as they should have. In theoretical debates on this issue, the reason for this change is generally attributed to the changes in the social and aesthetic tastes of the period; however, there is not much talk about the impact of technological innovations in this field. The present research aims to answer these questions: what factors caused the emergence of innovations in Qajar ceramic technology? What role did the technical innovations play in the formation of the visual evolution of ceramic of the period in terms of painting and coloring?

To answer the main questions of this research, the areas of innovation in technology were first examined and evaluated from the perspective of studying and teaching new sciences, translating and writing books on new sciences, and importing new technologies. Then, in two separate sections, various examples of technical innovations in the coloring of Qajar ceramic were explained, including the application of new pigments and the production of mixed colors. In this qualitative research, a historical-analytical research method was applied, and the data was collected through library study and field works. Various sources were used, including historical texts and references (books, manuscripts, and documents), works and documents in museums and historical buildings. In this research, the main emphasis has been placed on the remaining Qajar ceramic, color composition of which has been subjected to chemical and micro-structural analyses by other researchers.

Contrary to the popular belief, the visual changes in the color spectrum of Qajar ceramic were not solely due to a change in aesthetic tastes of the time; hence, the innovations made in ceramic technology during this period should also be considered as an important and influential factor. Sending students abroad, the establishment of modern educational institutions, the translation and writing of new scientific books, and the import of new technologies were among the factors resulted in the emergence of these innovations. As a result, they lead to the transfer of knowledge and new equipment, especially in the fields of ceramics, glassmaking, mining, and chemistry. Each of these fields had the potential to influence the traditional process of Persian ceramic in different areas. Coloring is one of the things influenced by the modern currents of ceramic technology more than the other areas. The result of this influence was the use of new pigments in variety of decoration, including underglaze, monochrome, and polychrome which led to the variety of colors used in the ceramic of the period. Gold nano-particles, lead antimonate, uranium oxide, and chromium oxide were among these pigments, from which different spectrums of red-pink, yellow, yellow-orange, and green colors were obtained. Some of these pigments such as gold nanoparticles and lead antimonate were rare in Persian ceramic, while some such as uranium oxide and chromium oxide were even unprecedented. The production of red-pink gold color in Persian ceramic started from the Zand period (18th century Iran) in polychrome works, but the effects of its use were manifested in the Qajar period. The use of this color in Qajar ceramic increased significantly from the last quarter of the 13thcentury AH/AD 1860s-70s to the extent that it was also applied in underglaze and monochrome products. Lead antimonate was widely used in the underglaze ceramic of the 4th AH/AD 10th century in Iran, but its became obsolete until the beginning of the Qajar period. It was in this period that its use was revived in the underglaze technique as a result of familiarity with the true nature of the antimony mineral and its role in obtaining the color of yellow. Uranium oxide and chromium were also popular as two emerging colorants in the underglaze technique of Qajar ceramic since early 14thAH/AD 20th century. The combination of pigments in the underglaze technique is one of the other measures employed to achieve a wider range of colors and was not popular until the Qajar period, especially the late 13thAH/19th century. Yellowish green, bluish purple, and brownish green are the most common of these colors. In order to increase the variety of colors, the Qajar ceramists also made a good use of the concentration of colors in painting. This was done in the underglaze technique by diluting the pigment with varying amounts of water, and in the poly-chrometechnique by thickening the paint with a vat and by reducing the paint from the surface of the work.

The results of the research demonstrate that the modern technology of coloring in Qajar ceramic was mainly focused on the underglaze technique, which indicated the awareness of the ceramists of the period of technical capabilities of this neglected method in ceramic painting. Another important achievements of Qajar ceramists in the face of technical innovations in the field of color was the “indigenization” of such techniques in accordance with the tradition of Persian ceramic. The use of glass powder, tenkar, and gold potassium alum (tawas) in the preparation of reddish-pink gold pigment (which was contrary to European methods), the use of this pigment in underglaze and monochromatic techniques, or the combination of new pigments with alkaline-lead glaze, common in traditional Persian ceramic can be considered as one of the prominent examples of this phenomenon.

Tilework decoration has an importance role as an art in Iran's architecture. Almost all Iran's architectural masterpieces have taken advantage of glorious tilework that are beautifully painted. The polychrome tilework of the Qajar period reveals the pictorial identity of its era which has a different artistic style comparing to earlier periods. In spite of some similarities in artistic style, the decorative tiles of this era have their own characteristics in each region (Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz). Shiraz’s tile makers of this period provided particular polychrome tiles with specific features according to costumes and folkloric culture and established the Shiraz school of tiling. The enormous use of polychrome tiles with various subjects decorating both inside and outside of nonreligious buildings, especially residential buildings, is an important character of Shiraz tilework in the Qajar era. The themes of this tiles revitalize national-religious, cultural and traditional desires. These themes which are the combination of Shahnameh’s tales within folk narratives and sacred fictions, famous male and female portraits in European costumes, and flowers and birds known as Gol-O-Morgh are painted in naturalistic style. Another characteristic of Shiraz tiles is the use of bright and lighthearted colours such as pink, purple, brown, yellow, green, white and blue, however it must be noted that pink is more prominent than other colours .The composition, colours, motifs and painting style of these tiles are repetitive in most of the buildings of this period.
Just like the rest of Iranian art pieces that have been smuggled from Iran, the tile works of the Qajar era have been sold in antique auctions and are kept in personal and public collections and museums out of Iran .This article studies an archway decorated with inscriptive polychrome tiles which was located in an art auction house: Bonhams, London. Paintings of this archway depict Solomon's kingdom, birds and flowers, Gol-O-Morgh motifs, separate frames of Qajar women and young couples. The visual impact of this archway is very similar to the tile decorations of the rest of the buildings in shiraz during the Qajar era and the two inscriptions below this archway’s pillars demonstrate this piece was made by master Ebrahim’s factory and ordered by Haji Abdolmohamad.This article concentrates on the tilework of this archway, comparing its common features with the other contemporaneous similar tileworks in Shiraz such as that of Namazi clinic, Salehi and Atrvash historic houses as well as clarifying the time, place and the identity of the artist attributed to this archway, in addition to recognizing the specific features of the Shiraz school tiling based on available documents.The method of this article is comparative-analytical and data has been gathered via field study and library research.
The following results of this article represent that this archway is related to tileworks of the mentioned places in Shiraz in terms of themes, motifs, colour palette and colouring method which elucidate that the archway belongs to the Shiraz school of tiling in the late Qajar period. Also examination of the inscriptions of this archway and other available inscriptions in the mentioned places, clarifies that the artist of this tilework is Ebrahim Ibn Fereydoon whose signed works exist in Namazi clinic and Vakil masque and that he was a tile maker from Shiraz during the late Qajar era and he was contemporaneous with "Mashhadi Abootaleb" the architect and "Mirza Abdolrazaq", one of the most famous tile makers of Shiraz in the late Qajar era. Despite previous researches on Qajar tiles, due to the wide geographic extent and large numbers, these tiles have a great deal of research potential in different aspects of technical and decorative styles. Field and documentary studies on artworks outside Iran's borders are necessary for the sake of understanding the origin of artistic identity and the preservation of cultural values

One of the main features of decoration in different works of art in the late 12th and earl 13th centuries Iran (coincident with Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods) and the connected cultures is the variety of subjects applied in different representations, including power iconography, royal pleasures, special mythical creatures and cosmic symbols. Enjoying distinctive iconographical characteristics, a small group of pictures and images here represent mythical and legendary stories displaying Persian heroic exploits like those of Bahram and Azadeh, Faridun and Zahhak, and Bijan and Manijeh. The scene of taking Zahhak to Mount Damavand by Faridun is a theme represented and reproduced in many images (e.g. wall paintings, pottery and metalwork objects) in the 12th and 13th centuries. In addition to Shahnamah (The Book of the Kings), this subject has been proposed in most of the historical and literal works. Aiming to find the referential source of images with the presence of Persian historical and legendary characters, this research tries to answer the question that whether such images have come out of Shahnamah and other historical works or just been under the influenced of oral references? In order to achieve this goal, the research has firstly been dedicated to the examination of Faridun and Zahhak's manners in Avesta, Middle Persian (Pahlavi) and Islamic texts as well as the study of the narratives of Faridun's victory over Zahhak in such texts. Having emphasized on the prominent symbols and features of each character, the pottery works containing the scenes of taking Zahhak to Mount Damavand by Faridun are introduced. Finally, the narrative source of images has been analyzed by searching historical and literal works as well as the probable influence of oral narratives. The required information in this research has been gathered through library sources and documents and the method is based on historical- analytical approach. None of the written narratives in this study conform with the mentioned paintings, however some similarities are observed in some details. Meanwhile, Shahnamah as an authentic historical reference book has increased the importance of this matter for illustration. Other texts have also had a big part in this influence. In some of them we witness details that are not even in the Shahnamah, but they conform with some of the elements in images (for example, referring to Fereydun's riding a cow in Athar al-Baqiya, Farsnamah, Gardizi History and Tabarestan History). Furthermore, the probable influence of oral narratives is also felt as much as that of the written ones. A proof for this matter is the Shahnamah of narrators where common points with these images are seen. This subject confirms the theory that the artists in that period had used their mind and memory in illustrating this narrative. We eventually come to the conclusion that these paintings do not show only a definite or limited part of the victory of Faridun over Zahhak, but they are the summary of the whole story being an implication of the concept of victory, a result that could be generalized to other related pictures and images.

One of the most important specifications of Islamic art is the technical and visual similarities between the pottery of different parts of Islamic world especially pottery of Seljuk kind. This matter has been observed mostly in Iran, Syria, and Turkey geographical area. One of the cases that have been considered in Islamic art studies is the determining of sources of these similarities. The persent investigation, regarding to this matter and by purpose of analysis about the directions of transferring tradition in pottery at 6th and 7th century Hegira is going to evaluate the sources of designs on tiles of Kubad Abad Palace in Turkey as one of the examples of their similarities. This essay by using of library referenced and also descriptive-analysis method for data gathering, seeking to find an answer for this question that: If Iranian art has effected on Anatolia and Seljuks of Rum. If the answer is yes, what was the reason of these impacts and how did it take place? Research finding show that, Iran is the origin of the most of impacts and influences on designs of tiles at Kubad Abad Palace. Also, Egypt has dedicated a small share for itself. Some parts of these impacts have been imported indirectly by intermediating of Syria and some parts directly by commerce, immigration and wars into Anatolia. Of course, the domain of these similarities is beyond the pottery, and it has impressed the other artistic works. Also, architecture, literature and governorship method have been influenced by it, accordingly, we could deduce that Iran beyond the artistic impacts, is a wide sources of cultural, political and economical similarities in Anatolia at Seljuks of Rum period.

The illustration of potteries with narrative themes in Iran became common from the late Seljuk era onenamel and luster glaze works. These works contain different themes from court scenes and everyday life to those inspired from historical and literary narratives. The lack of direct representation of the narrative and the ambiguities of the illustrated subjects are among those factors which have made the understanding of their exact connotations difficult. One of the examples in this regard is the luster-glazed bowl in Freer Gallery of Art, Washington. This paper, besides criticizing Guest and Ettinghausen’s views, aims at examining and interpreting the hidden meaning of the image in a bowl from this period (one of the most prominent works in luster glaze) now preserved at Freer Galley on the basis of iconographical approach and library research. Here, we have first described the elements of the image and identified the motifs and the present connections among them. Then, the subject of the image has been studied and the theory of its narrative is tested by referring to literary resources and historical investigation of Khosrow and Shirin story and some other legendry tales of that period through studying and comparing common themes of the time. We inferred that the image goes back tothe tradition of illustration of that period taken from an oral historical narrative with romantic themes and Shams al-Din al-Hassani, its narrator, has made a quick reference to one of its parts by emphasizing on oral narratives. We also reviewed the mystical theory of the image and after studying related texts, the examinations identified that mysticism has been much influential in choosing the subject of thenarrative as well as the content of poems written on the bowl. Having rejected the theories of the mentioned thinkers about the mere mystical aspects of illustrated sections, it is concluded that the representation of abstract mystical concepts was not the only point to be mentioned. Itis said that Shams al-Din the poet has been familiar with mysticism. This recognition has firmly rooted into the picture by the influences on the subject and content of the inscriptions’ poems. We could finally make the conclusion that this romantic narrative conforms to mystical concepts due to the same theme, i.e.“love and beauty”. Furthermore it is possible to regard this bowl, as one the numerous decorative objects in the late Seljuk period displaying a romantic narrative. The mystical themes of love in it have been manifested by the poems on the rim while intensifying the hidden sense of mysticism of the picture.