فصلنامه گلستان هنر
سال هفتم شماره 3 (پیاپی 23، پاییز 1401)

This essay aims to introduce a treatise by Alexander Bohler, teacher of engineering and military sciences at Dār ul-Funūn (polytechnic), on the subject of building castles and the related techniques for drawing the map of Tehran during the reign of Nāsir al-Dīn Shāh Ḳādjār in 1867-8. This act is now considered a turning point in the urban development of Tehran and Iran. The present treatise was translated to Persian in 1858-9 for the purpose of teaching engineering skills and fortifications. It contains some information about building castles, bridges, moats and urban fortifications on the basis of contemporary methods and techniques in 17th century.

As a famous treatise in teaching calligraphy, “Midād al-Khutūṭ” has been frequently used and referred to by contemporary scholars and calligraphers as a result of being a work ascribed to Mīr-‘Alī Hirawī, the prominent Persian calligrapher. The present essay would test the authenticity of such a work and reassess this treatise’s status in the history of calligraphy. The results indicate that “Midād al-Khutūṭ” is not a genuine treatise and not a work by Mīr-‘Alī Hirawī, but a poor, disorderly adaptation of other treatises in calligraphy. The major part of this work has been taken from “Savād al-Khaṭ” by Majnūn Rafīḳī Hirawī, mingled with some notes and subject matters from other treatises, including “Rasm al-Khaṭ” by Majnun Rafiḳi Hirawī, “Usūl-i Khaṭ” by ‘Abd Allāh Ṣayrafī and “Usūl wa Ḳawā’id-i Khuṭūṭ-i Sitta” by Fath Allāh Sabziwāri. Belief in the authenticity of “Midād al-Khutūṭ” treatise has brought about some false evaluations and analyses, especially of Mīr ʿAlī Hirawī’s and Sulṭān ῾Ali Mashhadi life and career by scholars in the field of calligraphy.

Today much research has been carried out on the arts of book, yet some aspects of it have not been studied well. Making colored papers, both in their texture and on surface, is a subject matter not dealt with properly in terms of history and production methods. Having been propagated in the 9th century AH/ AD 15th century, the production of marbled paper dates back to a period before that time, however centuries later different new methods and techniques appeared. Taking a look at the history of using colored paper, particularly the imported types from China in the 9th century AH/ AD 15th century, the present study shows that colored paper was not only applied in fine manuscripts of the 10th century AH/ AD 15th century, but the abundance of such paper used in personal notes of the 11th century AH/ AD 16th century is indicative of the fact that they were probably produced at a cheaper price. Incidentally, we witness historical documents relating to marbling technique. One of them is a literary letter by Tughrāy Mashhadī in which are seen some terms concerning this art as well as the fact of sending Persian marbled paper to India. Furthermore, two other notes discuss the material used in making marbled paper, one of which with more terms common in Indian culture.

Inscriptions are of special status in the history of Persian calligraphy. From the Safavid period onwards, in addition to Quranic verses, some other religious invocations and poems of the Shia Islam have been inscribed as well on different media. Among such inscriptions, we can refer to a piece of poem related to Muharram and Āshūrā (the 10th day of Muharram) composed by Muhtasham Kāshānī, the renowned Iranian poet of the 16th century. This piece of poem started being inscribed in different regions shortly after the poet’s death. Writing inscriptions reached its artistic climax during the Qajar era as a result of the appearance of famous, great calligraphers such as Mīrzā Qulāmrizā and his apprentices like Mīrzā-‘Amū and others. Here, a textile fragment with the inscription of Muhtasham Kāshānī’s poem from the reign of Muzaffar al-Dīn Shāh Qājār is a good case in point. Having a length of about 10 meters, this inscription has borders with painted flowers. We can ascribe this piece of calligraphy to Mīrzā-‘Amū, however its calligraphic style differs to some extent from that of his. Nonetheless, the superior quality and basic principles of the work reinforce its attribution to at least one of Mīrzā-‘Amū’s apprentices or someone under his influence. Today very few textile fragments with inscriptions have survived, however they were sometime produced in large numbers. Accordingly, the inscription of Muhtasham’s poem is of immense importance, both in terms of calligraphy and technical aspects.

Fereydun Sorushiyān Garden House is a historic, cultural place dating back to Pahlavi period. In a transfer from tradition to modernity, it was built on the basis of European plan in combination with Persian architectural elements. This place belongs to the Zoroastrian minority in Kerman and is located in the vicinity of fire temple neighborhood at the northern margin of Shohadā (Zarisaf) St. near other garden houses in the region. Unfortunately, this house is abandoned today and it suffers severe erosion and damage. Writing an article on such a place may facilitate appropriate recognition of it as a model for Zoroastrian houses in Iran and Kerman.The building and garden were constructed in 1300-1308 SH (1921-1929 AD) by the late Fereydun Sorushiyān. Its completion lasted until 1313 SH (1934-35 AD). Its designer was an English person and the building is in English style as well. The construction process coincided with the building of Irān-Shahr high school and Morsalin Hospital in Kerman. It was occupied by the Governmental Management Training Center for a certain period of time and also was used as Shahid Bāhonar Faculty of Art and Architecture (Sabā) during 1378-1382 SH (1999-2003 AD). Meanwhile, some changes occurred in the construction of the building as a result of administrative functions.The main building of the garden is a central kiosk located along the eastern to western axis with four external, separate facades. In the construction of the building, despite sharing a close, formal affinity with European buildings, local material and patterns besides native Persian decoration have been applied. In constructing the place, the application of brick-work, appearing once again in the Pahlavi period, is evident. Furthermore, all the spaces in the main kiosk, apart from the upper arch in first floor staircase, ground floor understairs and the first stairway landing, are decorated with Kalil-e Āzari (a type of Persian drop arch) arches. Other principal features to be mentioned in this building are as follows: using double-leafed doors with wooden decoration, using special symbols and characteristics from the Zoroastrian culture besides genuine Persian motifs in exterior and interior decoration, and observing private sphere in interiors despite the exterior characteristic of the central kiosk.

the present essay aims to study, respectively, the significance and use, as well as techniques of making different types of glazes and ornamentation of wares and tiles according to a treatise by ʿAlī-Muḥammad Isfahānī, the renowned potter of Ḳādjār era. Although glazed ceramic wares of this era were mostly under the influence of the imported wares from Russia, China and Europe, and their market was not as thriving as that of the tiles, remained samples demonstrate that works of this period enjoyed some delicate underglaze, overglaze and lusterglaze techniques with fritware and clay bodies. Accordingly, such works are considered successful examples in terms of quality. The results of this essay show that despite the common belief in the stagnation of pottery in Ḳādjār era, the techniques concerning glaze and body making evolved to a great extent and yet we witness that some sort of evolution takes place in color variety and underglaze painting technique. The most significant technique in the wares and tiles of the Ḳādjār era is underglaze painting with transparent watercolors. Here, colors are of a wider palette in compare to Safavīd era, including new ones such as red, pink, orange, greens and purple.

The expansion of calligraphic scripts in Islamic communities necessitated writing on calligraphy and transcription from the very beginning of the Islamic period. In early centuries of the Islamic calendar writings were mostly related to instructive purposes, but from the 4th century AH/ AD 10th century onward the act of writing scripts’ history and calligraphers’ biographies became widespread and it continued with fluctuations until the 11th century AH/ AD 17th century. In the mid-12th century AH/AD 18th century some calligraphers and experts in Islamic lands, particularly in Iran and the Ottoman Empire, embarked upon writing biographies of calligraphers with a look at the past documents. With the advent of modernity, researchers in both lands accomplished together the development of scripts as well as the process of biography writing. On the basis of new methodologies, they adopted a more analytical approach and they used more substantial resources, either written or visual. Structural and thematic conformity in the works of Persian and Turkish researchers in this field is indicative of common cultural foundations in the two lands. Such a matter is still evident in both sides, but it seems to have become rather monotonous with some fixed standards for historiography and biography writing. We should note that there remain challenges in the field of Islamic calligraphy to tackle.Adopting a comparative and critical approach, the present essay is to briefly examine historical and research books on calligraphy during the past 150 years in Iran and Turkey and it is to show their impacts on each other or their independency, as well as to propose some suggestions for the future scholarship.

Thinkers and scholars have adopted different approaches towards the meanings and concepts of colors. In the conceptual trinity of “viewer (addressee)”, “author (artist)” and “artwork”, if we put the second and third items aside, then the way the addressee would encounter an artwork matters. How such an encounter would be if he/she is aware of Hāj Mohammad-Karim Khān Kermāni’s views about the red light is another issue to be considered.The present article would examine the views of Mohammad-Karim Khān by employing Henry Corbin’s hermeneutic-phenomenological approach. Then, the results of the study and the descriptive-analytical method of considering colors in an artwork would be proposed according to the addressee’s point of view. The article concludes that when an artwork is judged through Mohammad-Karim Khān’s views, we can achieve a sort of personal intuition besides mere observation. In the case study of this reserach, consequences of intuition indicate that when the relationship between forms and visual elements of the pateh (a work of Iranian traditional needlework folk art) and the red color in the background of the work is studied through this scholar’s opinions, it would establish relations with Imam Hossein’s, a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, life and his martyrdom. Person (addressee) who is aware of such a mentality would unconsciously be directed towards theory of the Universal Perfect Man and salvation through invocation of the Saint Imams.