Architectural Decoration Analysis of MasoudiehMasoudieh Mansion in Tehran during Qajar Dynasty

The Qajar Dynasty is very important in the architectural art history, because in this period, western architectural techniques entered the architectural styles and decorations with their numerous features for the first time. The obvious manifestations of this, are the changes in Tehran's garden houses styles, which have different architectural styles and spaces, despite belonging to the same historical period. Masoudieh Garden House is a historical mansion which is in a better condition than other garden houses, and contains more comprehensive historical documents. Masoudieh garden was built in Baharestan Square (Tehran), by Mass'oud Mirza Zell-e Soltan’s order, and is decorated with brickwork, plasterwork, tiling, mirror work, sculpture, decorations. The research’s aim is to answer the question: What is the form and pattern used in the historical architectural decorates of Masoudieh Mansion in Tehran and what are the influential factors in its formation? The general approach in this research is qualitative, is applied in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical and historical based on nature, which used the iconology approach in the analysis, and the documentary collecting method was library and field information. In the analysis of the architectural decorations in MasoudiehMasoudieh Mansion, three important principles have been examined: the influence of Farang on Qajar art, nationalism, and Iranian-Islamic national arts. The indicators’ influential level on formation and performance of each decoration is expressed. The architectural decorations used in the old buildings are often combined with western designs and motifs that are inspired by nature and combined with Iranian-Islamic techniques. In the tiling decorations of the mentioned group, traditional motifs (Slimi motifs and Khatai flowers and leaves) can be seen, which are often combined with western motifs used in form of decorative unit frames or above the windows in the building’s basements. Another type of motifs used in the tiling, are the human figure designs such as princes, slaves and servants ready to serve, which are taken from western postcard motifs, in the single vertical frames. Wall decorations and plaster decorative frames, small and large vases decorated with different plants motifs can be seen, in addition to bands, buds, flowers, small and large leaves of Khatai and Farangi. These are imported from western motifs, which have been used and considered. plaster columns have been performed in the main front porches of Moshirolmolk The dining room and the eastern porch of the mansion, as well as the second floor balcony. Another type of plaster is the naked winged angels in human figures, which were generally seen in a similar and completely prominent form, at a very high height of some of the buildings. Regarding nationalism, it is worth mentioning that the first court architecture of Qajar era is a manifestation of the ancient history heritage. In Qajar era, a kind of reconstruction of the royal majesty and the power appeared in ancient Iran imitation. For this purpose, inspiration from ancient Iran during the Achaemenid and Sasanian Empires was taken into consideration. Ancient Iranian motifs have been used in most of the architectural decorations used in Masoudieh garden house to a significant extent, and they are often performed with Iranian-Islamic methods and techniques. The tiling decorations have been used with ancient Iranian forms and motifs. The double and triple stone columns in Divan-khane mansion’s main entrance, are a symbol of the stone columns in Persepolis’s central palace. What can be seen as Iranian-Islamic national art in Masoudieh garden house decorations, is in the form of brickwork, tilework, plastering, woodwork, sculpting and metalwork, which are often performed with traditional motifs (Khatai and Slimi), geometric motifs, human motifs, Nastaliq calligraphy and ancient Iranian motifs in the mansion’s old buildings.The mentioned decorations are generally different in type and usage in various parts of the old buildings, and each has been made with a special technique and method in Qajar Dynasty. All the forms and motifs are in different and regular frames except the inscriptions. They have balance and has been performed with 1/2 relation. The main colours, yellow, red, blue and complementary colours (yellow and purple), (red and green) and (blue and orange) as well as black, white and grey are used in various decorations of mansion. The social, cultural, and political conditions in Qajar era, relationship with Europe and western countries, and the remarkable interest of Qajar kings in European culture and art caused a very significant influence in national art and culture. In addition to the European neoclassical patterns, Islamic patterns and also some ancient Iranian motifs have been used in Masoudieh historical buildings’ decoration.