Mirror work should be considered the last initiative of Iranian artists in this group of fine arts that Iranians have used in interior architecture and interior decoration. The performers of this branch of art, which requires a lot of precision, elegance and patience in their work, have always been Iranian artists since its inception.
Mirror work should be considered the last initiative of Iranian artists in this group of fine arts that Iranians have used in interior architecture and interior decoration. The performers of this branch of art, which requires a lot of precision, elegance and patience in their work, have always been Iranian artists since its inception. By creating regular and more geometric decorative shapes and designs from small and large mirror pieces on the inner surfaces of the building, the mirror creates a bright and vibrant atmosphere, which results in the successive reflection of light in the countless mirror pieces and creates a light-filled, heartwarming atmosphere. And it is a dream.
The emergence of mirror work
Historical documents show that the decoration of the building with mirrors started for the first time in Qazvin, the capital city of Shah Tahmasab I, and in the court house that he started in 951 AD and finished in 965 AD. Khwaja Zain al-Abidin Ali Abdi Bey Navidi Shirazi in his book (Doha Al-Azhar) which was published before 955 AD. Composed in the description of Qazvin's hall and its mirrored porch, he sings the following verses:
Zahi Farrokh Betai Alam Arai
You have never seen such a place in the world
No other porch corner anywhere
Don't look the other way around
Behr Ivan that comes in front
Be the mirror opposite
After the transfer of the capital from Qazvin to Isfahan in 1007 AD, mirror work was spread in the newly built palaces of this city and Ashraf Palace (Behshahr). Mirror work was used in the decoration of many royal palaces in Isfahan, which, according to Chardin, numbered more than 137. Among them, the palace known as (Mirror House), which was famous for its use of mirrors, was the most beautiful of all. (mirror house) because Chehelstan had a porch with 18 mirrored columns, and the hall and the roof of the porch and its walls were decorated with one-piece mirrors 1.5 to 2 meters long and one meter wide.
The reflection of the image of the Zayandeh River and the forests of its northern shore in the mirrors of this building creates a pleasant sight.
Mirza Mozaffar who died in 1076 AD. He was among the secretaries of the Safavid Shah Abbas II. From his poems, it is clear that this palace and the palace (seven hands) began in the period of Shah Safi and ended in the period of Shah Abbas II. A part of what he wrote about (mirror house) is as follows:
A lantern and a tall candle up to the top of the mirror
The morning vision of Eid, the body of the mirror
The painting by Sana Lam Yezal is closed from your shadow
On the curtains seen seven stars of the mirror
This is a manifestation of who is everywhere in him
Faces do not mirror each other
Ashrat Sarai of Shah Safi Dan was his
The starlight of every mirror's eye shines
read the lines on the forehead of the angels to the nine stars
Fall if there is a mirror image on you
In Chehelston Palace, which was built between 1052 AH and 1078 AH during the reign of Shah Abbas II, mirrors have been widely used. In this palace, tall mirrors and small pieces of mirrors and colored glass were used to decorate the ceiling and body of the porch and hall, and the body of the 18 columns of the porch was also decorated with colored glass and mirrors.
Gemlli Careri, an Italian traveler who wrote his travelogue in 1105 AD during the reign of Shah Suleiman Safavi, writes in his description of his visit to the palace of Mirza Tahir, ruler of Azerbaijan: In one of the inner courtyards of the palace, there is a beautiful mirror room that not only The wall, even on the heater, is decorated with shiny pieces of mirror and creates a stunning scene under the sunlight. It is obvious that this tourist has come across such an array in architecture for the first time and was surprised to see it.
The fall of the Safavids and the resulting political and economic instability caused mirror work to stagnate for a while. The first mirror-worked building after this period was Karim Khan Zand Diwankhaneh in Shiraz, which was destroyed in 1209 A.H. by the order of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, and the columns of one fabric were carved and its inlaid doors and large mirrors were used for the development and reconstruction of Dar al-Amareh porch. They were transported to Tehran (currently Ivan Takht Marmar) to Tehran.
In the 13th century of the lunar calendar, mirror work was developing and expanding and had a gradual but noticeable evolution. During this century, beautiful works such as the halls and rooms of Shams-ul-Amara (1284 AH), (Hall of Mirrors) Golestan Palace (1299 AH) in Tehran, the mirror work of the porch and threshold of Hazrat Abdul Azim in Shahr Ray, and the mirror work of Dar al-Siadeh Astan Quds Razavi (1300) A) It was done in Mashhad, and each of them are considered to be outstanding examples of the mirror work method of this period. In the first four decades of the 14th century AH, a significant stagnation in mirror work can be observed. In this long period, we do not know of any other noteworthy mirror work, except for the mirror work of the Astan porch of Hazrat Masumah (1303 AH) in Qom.
But the first experiences after this stagnation are amazingly telling of a noticeable and significant evolution and progress. New developments and innovations can be seen in the mirrored parts of two Shahvand Palaces (now the Green Museum Palace) in the Saadabad complex of Shemiran and the Marble Palace in Tehran, which were built in 1306 and 1315 respectively, the expansion of the use of mirroring is another development. which appeared in this century. From now on, mirror work was removed from the scope of religious possibilities and royal palaces and was widely used in public places such as hotels, restaurants, theaters, stores and even houses.
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