The art of Enamelwork in Iran

The history of the art of enamel dates back to BC but some scholars believe that it is more than 5000 years. The surviving ancient Persian enamel artifacts are housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York city, and some other museums around the world. Among these artifacts, we could mention six glass beads of a necklace from 900 to 800 BC, gold armband of the Achaemenid period, gold earrings belong to seventh to eighth centuries BC and bronze bowls and plates of the Sassanid period. In later period, this art spread around the world and a number of beautiful examples exist in museums and personal collections. The enamels are made on the surface of metals like gold, silver or copper which are painted with a combination of glaze, including silica and metal oxides. Then the vessel is placed in a fire oven at a temperature of 800 to 900 C. High heat changes the chemical composition and by burning oxygen in metal oxides, the materials shine on the surface. This art has changed a lot throughout the history. The simple motifs have turned into a combination of drawing, arabesque patterns and Persian miniature. One of the masters of enamel is Hossein Esmaeili. He was born in 1954 in Isfahan and he started to work in an enamel workshop when he was 7. Then he left there at the age of 14 to set up his own business and he worked in his own workshop for the rest of his life. Master Hossein Esmaeili never benefited from the teachings of others. He learned everything by watching the tiled ancient buildings, the paintings of beautiful palaces and the motifs engraved on blue and azure tiles of Isfahan. He learned to see, memorize and think well to apply his knowledge smartly and artistically on the enamels. Hossein Esmaeili’s art was at its peak when the art of enamel had gone through a period of stagnation for 200 years while the motifs were simple and rudimentary. He breathed new life into this craft and popularized arabesque patterns and the motifs of flowers. He combined the patterns and upgraded the way of painting on enamels from the primitive style to the most complex. Before he started working, the enamel artifacts were small in size and volume. He worked on larger vessels and he was the pioneer of a dramatic transformation in enamel artifacts of Isfahan. He increased the thickness of the copper enamel dishes so that the glaze would not break when heated and cooled. He changed the size of the artifacts to be used in daily life and not just for decoration. Master Hossein Esmaeili cultivated the enamel art for half a century, and finally passed away on December 29, 2012. During his prolific life, he received a number one degree in art from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Iran. His art was registered in UNESCO and he became known as a permanent fixture of Persian enamel art. He also received a number of encouragement and appreciation letters from festivals and art centers in Iran and overseas. Ali Esmaeili, his son, says this about his father: My father's artistic heritage is his unique works that have a special place in domestic and foreign art museums, the works that the enthusiasts kiss them in the religious places of Iran and most importantly, his heritage was the great change and improvement in the quality, volume and size of enamel works. The fans of this art can see the artifacts of Hossein Eesmaeili at www. esmaeiliartfoundation. This film was a short memoir of half a century of artistic effort of a self-made man, in order to grow and promote creativity and innovation in a world art, which you saw as the first chapter of the Persian art collection. Other parts of this collection are being prepared and compiled. Art Foundation of Hossein Esmaeili