Persian wood mosaic

Let's get to know more about the authentic Iranian art of wood carving(mosaic). Mosaic authentic Iranian art Mosaic is one of the oldest fields of handicrafts in Iran, which is older than other wooden industries like inlay, joinery, turning, and weaving baskets and mats. Human has used wood for thousands of years, appropriate shape to create shelters, build boats and other things. Studying the works related to 3000 BC found in Susa shows that native people of Iran not only used wood to build their huts, but also used it to build ladders and other means of life. During the Achaemenid period, the use of wood was very common; Iranian oak and Lebanese cedar trees were used in the construction of the Achaemenid palaces of Shush and Apadana. Egyptians also knew how to use wood well. Three thousand years ago, they used paper and wooden covers in their works. The Phoenicians built the temple of Hazrat Suleiman in 1012 BC on the coast of Lebanon. The roof and walls of this temple were made of Lebanese cedar wood and the floor was covered with cedar wood. The doors were made of olive wood and the supporting pillars were also wooden. Throughout history, the use of wood and engraving on it continued to progress; But it declined in the 17th and 18th centuries until it resumed its growth in the 19th century. According to the revelations, the wooden marble was inspired by the tile marble, and it is said that the wood marble began to grow during the decline of the tile industry.

Mosaic definition Mosaic in cultural and glossary book(Amid) means pieces, streaks and patches. All of us have used a method called collage in our childhood, in which we cut and put together colored pieces of cardboard, fabric and paper in different shapes, and finally we got a special shape such as a tree, house and flower. In the classification of traditional arts of the country cultural heritage organization, wood carving, mosaic, is in the category of artificial arts, under the branch of wood works and in the section of wood cutting. As it was said in the definition of Al-Maraq, Al-Maraq is obtained by putting together and combining colored wood according to the design; This means that wood is the only raw material in making a mosaic work, but this art can be combined with other arts or using with other materials. Some materials are used in mosaic work, like Khatam, shell, metal (gold, brass, silver, copper), bone and ivory. Mosaic can be used in various wooden works such as panels, tables, chairs, clocks, buffets, doors, decorative boxes and any flat and curved wooden items, the purpose of which in all these cases is to give artistic effect and richness to wooden works. Wood carving is one of the beautiful and practical wooden handicrafts of Iran. In the concept of wood engraving, it means creating patterns that are cut and combined with colored wood and other materials such as inlay, metal, shell and fiber on the wood or polyester paint, but in the common definition it means pieces, streaks And it is a patch, and everything with streaks is called "maragh"(mosaic). If we put different shapes of colored sticks next to each other in the form of a predrawn design, it is called a mosaic.

This art is also mistakenly called Moaraq, which is a separate art in literature and means gathering different pieces of different works in one collection. There are various types of marbles that depend on the type of material, including tile, leather, fabric, metal, Khatam and wood marbles.

History of Moaraq wood is one of the relatively unstable and short-lasting materials of nature, the works made of wood have been damaged and destroyed over time or due to various accidents and factors, or no one has thought of maintaining and collecting them. The works were not made of wood. Based on this, almost no specific wooden works from different historical periods have remained. However, researchers and historians consider different times as the origin of wood veneer. According to the revelations, the wooden marble was inspired by the tile, and it meant that the wood marble began to grow during the decline of the tile industry. In Maraq tile, the pieces of Alvan tiles are cut into pieces by a hammer called Cheki, and a single design is created by putting them together. It was surrounded by a paste called saroj, and for the strength of the work, slurry was poured on it to harden. Mosaic tiles appeared during the Ilkhanid period, which reached their peak of prosperity in the form of geometric patterns during the Timurid period. An example of mosaic tiles is the red dome of Maragheh, which was built during the Ilkhanian period. One of its beautiful examples during the Timurid period is Soltanieh Dome. There is another theory that wood carving is not a technique that is derived from various types of carving, including tiling. A woodworker must not only work with wood and know its texture, but must also learn the technique of woodworking.

According to another group, Maraq has entered Iran from China, India and Egypt. These people believe that, based on the available documents, three thousand years ago, the Egyptians realized the value of wood and made their creations, such as chest seats, etc., with ordinary wood, and used high-quality veneers such as ebony and ivory decorations on them. There are different types of maraq that depend on the type of material and it includes maraq of tile, leather, fabric, metal, inlay and wood. The oldest example of wooden work was found in the ancient excavations of the burnt city of Zabul. This work is a piece of wooden comb that has been engraved with geometric motifs and knots in the method of replacement (in lay) and dates back to the 5th millennium BC. The group who believe that Maraq entered Iran from other countries, interpreted this research as saying that this comb belonged to travelers who passed through this city, but the research on the designs of this comb made it clear that the designs on it (knot and geometric patterns) are completely Iranian designs. Based on this, we can come to the theory that Iran was the founder of Muraq and the mentioned art was transferred from this region to other places.

There is a period of silence of several thousand years, between the date of creation of two existing mosaic works, the first one is related to the comb found in the excavations of the burnt city and the second one is a painting from 1313 AH that was replaced by the mosaic style by master Ahmad Rana. This style is considered the first style of wood. In 1309, the first traditional workshops were established by Hossein Taherzadeh Behzad in order to teach, preserve and spread the national and indigenous arts of Iran. The first workshop opened related to woodworking was the carving workshop, which was managed under the supervision of Master Ahmad Emami and his two sons, Khalil and Ali Emami. In 1310, the wood mesh and marble strings were added to the inlay workshop. The supervision of this workshop is carried out by the masters of inlaying including; Shahmirzadi, Ahmed Rana, Zablei, Visaei, Haj Gholam Ali and in 1370 Kamal Mirtoibi was his teacher. Currently, the supervision of the Ma'raq workshop in the Cultural Heritage Organization is under the responsibility of Professor Moulai.

Wood mosaic, inlaid and wood carving It is very surprising that sometimes with a little creativity and skill, an ordinary work can be turned into a great and pure piece of art. Human can create great pieces of art from ordinary objects with their hands. All these appear from the divine gifts of creativity and innovation of human. Through the Iranian arts that have their roots in the culture and tradition of our country are Mosaic, inlay and wood carving. In the next step, we will introduce more of these main Iranian arts.