Glaze Making and Ornamentation in Ḳādjār Tiling and Pottery
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.