Iranian Painted Copper

Painted Copper

Enameling

Painted Copper is created by merging two types of handicrafts, namely Copper craft and Enameling crafts. Enamel is one of the most popular types of handicrafts dating back several thousand years. Enamel can be made of gold, silver and copper, but nowadays most enamel work is done on copper. Enamel working and decorating metals with colorful and baked coats is one of the distinguished courses of art in Iran. Isfahan is the heart of Painted Copper art in Iran.

Stylish

Minakari

The painting style used in copper Called Stylish. Stylist is one of the most valuable types of painting methods. In this style, the artist draws shapes such as flowers, birds, or human faces, etc., and draws lines and flowers around them. Painting on Copper is also known as Minakari art. Minakari is the art of Enamel working and decorating Copper with colorful and baked coats. Bright colors, unique images, and forms of Minakari make each piece truly unique.

Painted Uses

Jewelries

The Painted Copper can be defined as painting on the body of the copper products. For the design and construction of other parts of the body, traditional and old designs with azure blue and turquoise blue colors that represent the ancient Iranian culture are used. It is usually done on different utensils, such as vases and plates, picture frames, the doors and windows in holy shrines, jewelries, small decorative objects, and combined with Khatam kari.

Heavy Product

Painted Copper product should not be light comparing to its size. One reason is that the container of material is copper, and high-quality copper is heavier than low-quality copper. Another reason is that a container that is relatively lightweight may deform over time.

Polyester Coating

The copper metal used for the construction of Painted Copper should have a high thickness and strength. To prevent oxidation of copper and its black color, polyester coating is used on copper. Also, polyester Coating increases the resistance of the product.

Coloring

Touch the surface of Painted Copper product. It should be smooth and polished. Otherwise, it has either been painted with low-quality colors or burned in the kiln. As a result of using metal-based paints and baking procedure the color of product is stable, washable and anti-scratch.

Motifs

Tow of main motifs in Painting on Copper are Khataee motifs and Bird & flower motifs. Khataee motifs, one of the basic designs of Iranian decorative arts is a combination of a tree with flowers, leaves, and buds. Bird & flower motifs is a combination of flowers and birds flying around them. The more intricate and complicated motifs yield the more expensive final product.

Preparation

Besides the preparation of paint cream, the desired objects which are mainly made of copper are created by hammering and forming. After forming the objects, they should be cleaned thoroughly prior to being covered with white enamel coating. The cleanness of the surface is very important at this stage since very minor dirt or even hand oil or moisture could cause a crack in the final product.

Baking

The enameled object is baked in the furnace at around 700° in a few stages. Once the object is baked and cooled down, the pattern of each item is transferred to the surface of object. This is usually done by drawing on the paper first and punching small holes near to each other on the lines drawn on the paper. Graphite powder is usually used to mark on the metal surface through paper tiny holes.