Ayeneh-kari

Ayeneh-Kari, the art of mirror-work in Persian architecture
CountryIran
Reference02319
RegionAsia and the Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription2025 (20th session)
ListRepresentative

Ayeneh-kari[1] (Persian: آینه‌کاری, lit. 'Mirror-work') is a kind of Iranian interior decoration where artists assemble finely cut mirrors together in geometric, calligraphic or foliage forms (inspired by flowers and other plants).[2] This creates a shining surface covered with complex facets, reflecting light as intricate abstract patterns or glittering reflections. Beside their decorative use, this art form is used as a strong durable cover for interior spaces.[3]

Etymology

The word Ayeneh-kari is a Persian compound word, composed of the words ayeneh and kari. Ayeneh means mirror. Kari means to do or place something onto something else. Together, the word Ayeneh-kari means mirror-work.

History

Elements of this craft have been attributed to Venetian glassmakers invited to Iran by the Safavid shah, Abbas the Great, in the 17th century.[4] This art form may have also evolved from the creative reuse of shattered fragments of imported mirrors. By the 19th century, affluent homes in Isfahan featured a 'mirror room' as a reception space, in which mirror work was combined with carved stucco and the display of artist's prints.[5]

During the Zand and Qajar eras, this craft was applied over doorways, window-frames, walls, ceilings, and columns in pavilions and private houses, tea-houses and zūrḵānas, as well as royal buildings and shrines. Mofakham's House of Mirrors in Bojnord, North Khorasan is another notable example of ayeneh-kari in the Qajar era. The funerary complex of Shah Cheragh in Shiraz, Iran, features extensive use of Ayeneh-kari. It also appears as an external architectural facade, within semi-domed Iwans that mark the entrance of tālārs, courtyards, gardens and reflecting pools.[6]

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was an Iranian artist who, by re-interpreting Ayeneh-kari, brought the art form into the contemporary art scene.

See also

References

  1. ^ Eleanor G. Sims, “ĀĪNA-KĀRĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/7, pp. 692-694; http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aina-kari-mosaic-of-mirror-glass Retrieved 10 December 2019
  2. ^ Seyed Fazlollah Mirdehghan and Hamid Azizi. 'Study of Symbolic Motifs in Mirroring (Aina-Kari) of Qajar Houses in Yazd City' https://nbsh.basu.ac.ir/article_2736_en.html Retrieved 10 December 2019
  3. ^ Moein (2004). Farhang-e Moein [Moein Persian Dictionary] (in Persian).
  4. ^ H. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia, Boston, 1966, p. 169
  5. ^ Parviz Tanavoli, 'European Women in Persian Houses: Western Images in Safavid and Qajar Iran' Bloomsbury Publishing, 29 Jan 2016 pp. 32-34
  6. ^ Eleanor G. Sims, “ĀĪNA-KĀRĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/7, pp. 692-694
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