The Comparative Morphological Study of the Glass Carafe of Iran and Egypt in the 3rd & 6th centuries AH

Glassmaking is one of the oldest, most valuable and growing arts throughout history. It can be said the art of glass has developed in the Islamic period which has long been the manifestation of outstanding and unique glass works that show the level of interest, mastery and skill of glass artists in Iran and Egypt. With the advent of Islamic civilization, the glassmaking of Iran and Egypt reached its peak with its rich historical and artistic background. Iran and Egypt, among the pioneering lands of the art of glassmaking, have made a great contribution to its advancement in the Islamic era. This study is an attempt to identify and adjust the glass carafe of Iran and Egypt in the 3rd and 6th centuries BH based upon the morphological approach. Morphology literally means studying and recognizing shapes and faces. That is, the study of the components of an object and their relationship to each other and to the whole structure of that object. It is a term first used by Vladimir Propp. His emphasis was on analyzing an effect in terms of its components and believes the structure of an effect is made in terms of its constituent components and the relations of that component. This approach was first introduced in the field of literary criticism and is now applied in artistic fields where it is possible to examine and recognize the components of these types of glass and to give a general overview of the shapes of the works for further comparison. In all, morphology as one of the methods of artistic explanation is an approach that in most cases studies the constituent elements of the work and examines the general form and structure of the components, motifs and decorations. In other words, morphology is efficient in recognizing and determining fixed and variable elements of the work. Fixed elements are the ones that are constantly present in the work and do not change, but variable elements appear in different ways and cause diversity.Studying the shapes and forms of glassworks of Iran and Egypt including the carafes is an approach to glassmaking art in this era. The samples are collected to answer these fundamental question that “What are the visual characteristics of glass carafe of Iran and Egypt in 3-6 AH centuries in terms of fixed (reservoir and neck) and variable (motifs and ornamental) elements” and “What are the differences and similarities in their shapes?” This research is based on library studies in a descriptive-analytic manner. The results showed that the glass carafes of both countries have structural similarities such as reservoir and neck elements, and the decorations can be traced in two abstract and semi-abstract parts. Despite the similarities in the morphology of the Iranian and Egyptian carafes, which illustrate the effects of glassing in these two countries, there are some differences in the varied elements including craters and various ornaments such as geometrical, non-geometrical, textual as well as plant and animal decorations in which abstract quality is noted.