Isfahan Enamel Art of Water and Fire Art
A subtle art in which the attention reminds one of the turquoise domes of the city’s mosques with their beautiful and pleasing designs but on a smaller scale.
The art of enameling has a long history in the world, dating back to 1500 BC. The oldest examples of enamel found in the world indicate that enamel, like many other arts, was first found in Iran and in Iran. It has spread to other countries, such as the gold-plated enamel ornament of the Achaemenid period, which is now housed in the Victoria Albert Albert Museum in London.
Enamel is transparent and this transparency is created from tin oxide, and its compounds have remained constant and unchanged since ancient times.
In general, enameling is done on copper, although it can also be done on gold and silver. Enamel production requires certain steps, and that is that the container is first made in the shape and size required by the person in charge, then the enamel master puts the white glaze on it and puts it in the oven, then paints on this white canvas. It is polished and finally covered with gold, and finally covered with clear glaze. During the manufacturing process, the furnace is heated about eight times in each container, and each time it is heated to an average of 200 to 800 degrees Celsius so that the colors become desirable.
Enamel is divided into two categories: housing and role-playing.
Enamel enamel is an old-fashioned method known as wire enamel that uses very thin wires. The wires are cut to the desired shape and glued to the workpiece, covered with a glass glaze. It is then placed inside a furnace with a temperature of about 1,000 degrees and the wires are welded to the workpiece.
In the next step, they fill the special enamel paints that are in the form of powder on the work surface. After the work surface is even and smooth, it is placed in a furnace with a temperature of about 1000 degrees for 3 minutes.
Landscaping enamel has been common in Isfahan and Tehran, but is currently the only enamelling workshop in the Cultural Heritage Research Institute.
Painting enamel: The method that is common in Isfahan today is that enamel patterns are formed on transparent enamel. For this purpose and for enameling, first a master blacksmith or a potter then an enamel master on it paints white glaze. The glazing step is done three or four times, and each time it is placed in the oven at 700. C to stabilize the color of the glaze. The painting is then painted on this white object and the object is re-baked to a degree of about 400 to 500 degrees and the colors are desired.
Mini-makers produce different works, some of the most common of which are as follows
Plates, vases, bowls and vases, photo frames, enamel paintings that combine with other arts such as gilding, embroidery, miniature, jewelry making.
Doors, windows and enamelled shrines in religious places, especially the shrine of Shiite Imams.
Decorative Shia: Women’s Make-Up Boxes, Inlay and Enamel Boxes, Tea and Syrup Eating Service, Hookah, Quran Box, Armor, Mirror, Pencil, Belt, Enamel Bubbles, Rose Sprinkler, Photo Album, Enfian Dan, Dancer Sheath.
Jewelry: earrings, small breasts, necklaces, rings, medals
The hands of the enamel artist mix the copper with turquoise blue as if they were intertwined from the beginning. We went to artists from half the world, artists whose works are summed up in their fingers.
Aminnejad is an enamel artist who grew up with this water, colors and copper as a child. He narrates the story of the art of enameling as follows:
I learned this from my fathers, and I am now 48 years old. The beautiful enamelware that everyone sees in Imam Square is the result of the efforts of the masters who engrave copper on their hearts and souls.
Enamelware works in different stages, which takes a lot of effort for me and other masters, but what is more important and is a kind of brand of an enamel workbench is the signature of the master of the work, as well as the high quality raw materials in his work. Has used.
Professor Mina Kar referred to the applications of this art and said: These dishes are very resistant to cold and heat and any weather conditions, and this factor makes these dishes practical in social life.
Mina is a role that has been indebted to the art of Iranian artists from the past to the present.
Many designs are embossed on copper, such as buildings, he said. lines. Slim is the error of the chicken inscription and the error and flower of the error that has many fans.
Amin Nejad, a master of work in Mina, mentioned the booming export of this industry and said: This art is exported from its cradle in Isfahan to many countries such as Russia and China, and if another corner of this land is exported from this art, of course all of it. It was bought from the city of Isfahan because this art and its masters are unique to the city of turquoise domes.
Problems facing Mina industrialists
Professor Mina called the lack of insurance, the high cost of raw materials, the lack of knowledge of the people and the lack of tourists as the most important problems of this art and added: if these problems are not solved by the officials of this field, unkindness will plague this art.
A member of the Handicrafts Union, referring to the export and significant popularity of other countries, pointed to this art and said: Unfortunately, the high price of raw materials has caused us not to see this art shine in the world markets. Fortunately, this art has many enthusiasts. There are 3,500 enamel artists working in the city of turquoise domes.
This 1400-year-old art has been handed over to the city of Isfahan due to the presence of Kaolin artists and miners, so that no example of it can be found anywhere in the world.
One of the ways to deal with the destructive problems of this art is to use it in the context of people’s lives and in people’s homes, because these blue dishes are highly resistant to cold and heat and are also unbreakable. It can and can be used as a serving dish.
If the government provides the raw materials to the artists, it is the highest love they have done for these artists, so that if the officials make an effort, their names will surely be remembered as good in the history of the future.
It is hoped that the eye-catching art will one day entertain guests on display in the shop windows of Naghsh Jahan Square.