iranian wooden handicrafts are one of the delicate and attractive handicrafts that anyone can see its art and beauty. A delicate and beautiful wooden work created by hand shows the taste of its creator for many years, and since its raw material, which is wood, is abundant and naturally present in some parts of Iran, the types of handicraft products that They are made of wood or tree trunks and are also welcomed
Hearing the word handicrafts with wood is very familiar to all of us. When we say wood, our mind revolves around life and reminds us of various examples: old and traditional wooden doors, tall and green tree trunks, the beautiful color of ash wood next to a fire and evening tea sometimes and… Woods have always played a prominent role in our lives, both in terms of use (the first houses and basic objects were made of wood) and in terms of decoration and the production of wonderful objects from wood. In this article, from the collection of Salam blog articles, we are going to review a bunch of wonderful objects made of wood, and together with you, we will review all the wooden handicrafts made in Iran.
video of iranian woodwork
We all know that our country has achieved one of the best ranks in the world in terms of artistic and handicraft products, and the purchase of handicrafts during tourists’ trips to the country has always attracted the attention of the world and other cultures. Iranians with their artistic taste and creative spirit have always tried to make their living environment more beautiful and add other facilities to their collection. Now let’s see what masterpieces “wood, this material full of potential for creating artwork” has turned into in the hands of creative Iranian artists?
Use of wooden handicrafts
Handicrafts with wood in Iran are divided into different categories that are classified according to their manufacturing technique. The general types of this category are:
- Made by lathe method : such as carving and turning
- Made by cutting method : such as porcelain knot and inlay
- Made by cutting and fastening method : such as inlay work, joinery and inlay work
- Made by combined methods : such as wooden volumes, inlay inlays and inlays inlays
In all these methods, first the wood must be transformed into the required piece from the wood-cutting workshops and then it reaches the hands of the master artist to go through the next steps on it based on the needs of his art and skill.
Types of wood used in wooden handicrafts
According to the research conducted and generally in the world, we see the existence of 100 different families of wooden trees, each of which has different properties depending on their geography and genetic characteristics. As one of the rich and diverse reserves of wood in the world, Iran has indigenously cultivated 30 families of these woods.
We can divide these groups based on two general categories of coniferous leaves (which are always green) and broad leaves (which are green at certain times of the year). The use of each of these two categories is different depending on the opinion of the master and the conditions of handicrafts and works of art. The following examples are very widely used in Iranian wooden handicrafts.
- Conifers native to Iran: yew, cypress, goat’s beard, fringed pine, etc.
- Wide variety of native leaves of Iran: ebony, maple, oak, pistachio, willow, alder, mulberry, walnut, plantain, cypress, elder, boxwood, juniper, citrus, etc.
Of course, it is good to know that Iran’s resources for making handicrafts are not only local resources, and various types of pines, maples and walnuts are also imported from other countries depending on the needs of artists.
All kinds of wooden handicrafts
There are various cases of using wood in Iranian handicrafts. As we mentioned before, we can categorize these items depending on the manufacturing technique, the type of tool, or the efficiency of the final product. The primary material for the creation of all these products is wood. A material that has the necessary strength and is easier to color and cut than other materials (for example, stone). Therefore, we see this diversity and various uses of wood in handicrafts.
It is also important that wood has always been available to artists since time immemorial, and therefore they did not have to worry about the supply of raw materials. In some arts, the natural shapes and lines of the wood body are used in the appearance of the work, and in some places the artist prefers to make these shapes and lines lighter as much as possible.
The types of these wooden handicrafts are:
- Woodcarving
- Lathe
- Lattice work
- Marquetry
- Chinese knot
- joinery
- Khatam Kari
- Inlaid water
- Maraq Khatam
- Wooden volumes
Tools and equipment needed to make wooden handicrafts
In general, various tools and devices are used to make and decorate wooden crafts, and each of these tools has a specific function. The most important tool in wooden crafts is wood. All kinds of wood can be used for handicrafts. The most common ones are walnut, boxwood, beech, jujube and orange. Among the other tools and equipment of this art field, we can mention nails, paper, polished oil, wood glue, oyster, bone, ivory, bolster, dark color powder, colored glass, varnish and alcohol, brass and copper wires.
Cutting tools:
- All kinds of manual and machine saws
- Drilling tools
Cutting and polishing tools:
- Types of graters
- Sab wood
- cave
- chisel
- sandpaper
Color and finishing tools:
- All kinds of high schools
- pistol
- Mo pen
- spatula
Fastening and holding and connection tools:
- Types of clamps
- Hammer
- Nailer
- thread
Safety tools and equipment:
- gloves
- Hat
- Glasses
- Mask
The method of making wooden handicrafts
As mentioned, there are different methods for making and producing wooden handicrafts, some of which are even combined methods. Below we mention the types of these construction methods and which art each one is used for:
cutting method
The method of carving wood to make objects in various shapes using various tools is called “wood carving”. This method is used to make handicrafts in the arts of turning and inlaying.
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Carving art
Skip the three-dimensional wooden sculptures; Another one of the most beautiful wood arts is dedicated to carving. We have all seen the wooden boards that have various carvings done on them and make the decoration of a place more beautiful. Carving is actually an art that creates various patterns and designs with different tools on high-quality and durable wood. The most beautiful paintings can be created by inlaying on wood. Designs and roles that have artistic value can be created and produced with inlay art; From nature to flowers and leaves, hunting scenes, images of myths in the Shahnameh, and even Quranic verses and phrases can be introduced in the art of inlaying as one of the best wood arts. Today, the art of carving is one of the famous handicrafts and it is highly recommended for earning and exporting.
In the inlay method, a part of the wood is carved and cut with a chisel and hammer to create reliefs on the surface of the wood. There are different types of carving based on the depth of cutting the background, its pattern or lines, which we will discuss below.
Engraving: In this method, only the lines of the design and pattern are carved with a cave, and the background and pattern remain level and without protrusions. In other types of embossing, the background is cut completely and with a uniform depth, and then the pattern and design on the work is cut. This type is divided into three types of embossing, semi-embossed, embossed and fully embossed, according to the amount of embossing.
Semi-embossed inlay: In this inlay, the pattern or the main lines remain on the same level. This method is known as needle embossing method in Iran. The wooden templates of pen printing are made in this way.
Embossed embossing: In this method, all motifs are highlighted relative to the surface and some parts are carved with a little depth. Golpayegan inlay is produced in this way.
All-embossed inlay: In this inlay, motifs are carved and paved with different depths.
In general, for all types of inlays, woods that have a uniform color and are healthy are used, and finally, after the final work on the surface, they polish it with oil.
The art of embroidery
Inlaying is one of the wood arts with different elegance and beauty. Inlaying is very different from inlaying. In the art of inlaying, different pieces of wood are cut into various shapes. The pieces of wood should have a very small thickness of millimeters so that they can be easily cut and glued in the desired place. The art of inlaying leads to the production of artistic works of wooden panels with colorful designs and patterns. Colored wood is used a lot for this art. If a little creativity is used in the work, wood arts can be created with the most beauty. These products can definitely be sold in the domestic and international markets.
The art of carpentry with wood
Another type of wood art is known as joinery art. Joinery may be less known by this term among the general public, but we have all seen decorative wooden boxes, wooden jewelry boxes or other wooden boxes for various uses. Making boxes and wooden boxes is called the art of carpentry. This art can be combined with mirror work, which will become an attractive and unique art. Wood works of art from the carpentry category are very suitable as handicrafts or home businesses; That is, if you can start a workshop for making wooden boxes, you will get a good income.
Chinese knot art
Chinese knot art is another type of wood art. In this art, which is derived from ancient China, shapes of regular polygons are placed next to each other, which are made of wood, but the distance between these polygons is filled with mirrors or colored glass. This art is very old but fascinating. In the old houses of Iran, in the interior architecture part, you can see the art of Chinese knot with the most beauty.
wood turning
The art of wood turning is a combination of the era of turning machines and symmetrical lathes, in which various objects are produced.
Wood turning has been done since the distant past and is still done in the wooded parts of the country.
In wood turning, mostly soft and resistant woods such as: white wood, walnut, plantain, willow, alder, etc. are used.
Lichtenberg or burnt engraving
Another wooden handicraft is Lichtenberg handicraft .
In these art industries, they create different designs on the surface of wood by means of very high voltage electric current.
Lichtenberg was discovered by a German scientist named Lichtenberg and later this art entered the art industry.
Wooden musical instruments
Another wooden handicraft is the production of wooden musical instruments.
Among the wooden musical instruments, we can mention violin, three strings, tar, fiddle, oud, guitar, tambur, tonbak, etc.
