Ardabil handicrafts

Extracted from Rasekhoon

Rug weaving and reversible rug weaving

one of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of Ardebil state is called "rug weaving". Rug Weaving is one of the traditional handmade of the state, which is very important due to the cheap price (compare to the carpet) and the beauty and simplicity of the motifs. The oldest sample is related to the Parthian period. The cords of cotton are from thrown cotton thread and its woof is made of wool and sometimes silk. The method of rug weaving is that in the first step, a scaffold is installed with cotton yarn and then they begin to weave.
Rug texture is prevalent in most parts of the state, and production place can be guessed by its design and coloring. A variety of beautiful, lively, and vibrant colors are used in the rug fabric, and colorful wools and sometimes silk in different thicknesses are used for rug texture. Sometimes silk is also used for knitting. Carpet designs are usually geometric, and in each city they make special designs in conventional designs. Rug weaving and it`s use are so engrafted with the lives of nomads that they are making other products such as sacks, saddle bag, wrapper for bed clothes, manta, and sometimes decoration of the tribe walls, equipment such as mat, MASNAD rug, fringe, plus, prostrate cloth, tablecloth, stool cloth, ground cloth, saddle bag, pouch, sack, salt shaker, saddle bag and both sides are useable.
Flat weave:
One of the traditional handicrafts of Ardebil state is flat weave. JAJIM is a woven handicraft that usually has stripes, diamond, and colorful designs, and people were putting it on the stool cloth in the old days. From long ago, it used to wrap the bed and therefor so-called "place", so it was called "collect place". Then after sometime, for ease of pronunciation, they called it JAJIM. The said JAIM warps are made of colorful wool with number 10 double MERINUS, and sometimes, of course, colorful silks are also used as warps. Because of the fact that woof can`t be seen, it is chosen from gray or black cotton yarn with number 20 into sextuple.
The method of doing is to open the bowstring in the open area (They stretch out the middle of bowstring and separate a number of warps, then they begin to weave. Usually they weave JAJIM by the length of 10 to 15 meters and width of 15 to 25 centimeters. After the end of the weaving, the pieces are sewn by cutting and keeping the pieces, next to each other to produce the desired dimensions. In most parts of the state, JAJIM's texture is customary, with the difference that the color mixture, or the elegance of yarn and motifs are different in various parts of the state. Common designs are: apple flower, gypsum DIRNAKHI (goat`s nail), SIRGA (earring), spools, BALI BAGHALI, JULMA, almond, OZOK RING (jewel ring), HAMYAN and ... However, it should be noted that the highest volume of production is related to the tribes of Ardebil, KHALKHAL, MESHKINSHAHR, PARSABAD MOGHAN, , NAMIN, KOSAR and BILESAVAR. Consumables such as ground cloth, prostrate cloth, mat, tablecloth, bedspreads, stool cloth and sofa cover are used in complementary work with leather.
Glass cutting:
One of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of the Ardebil state is glass cutting, which is the creation of various traditional designs on glass using special stones with a degree of hardness that is more than glass hardness. The glass cutter is made with stone like discs, and the cutting speed of the cutting machines and cutting discs are depending on the type of cutting. As the cutting goes deeper, the cutting speed becomes faster, and vice versa, in case of simple cutting, speed of the grinding wheel is less. By changing the thickness of cutting stone, hand movement and change of time duration, we can change the type of cutting. In the art of glass cutting, in the beginning, we have to fix, the desired design, and then, by holding the glass container in hand, we have to make it close to cutting stone, we can engrave the desired design on the glass. After cutting, we can polish the cutting points. Cutting on glass is common in the city of Ardabil.
Traditional weaving:
One of the handicrafts of state is the traditional weaving, which is mainly done by women. This art is made by knitting needle (two needles, five needles or hook) and products such as socks, neck shawl. Some of the traditional knitwear such as blouses and hats are decorative. This art is prevalent in most parts of the state, and women typically fill their leisure time with this art during the cold winter days.
Plus weaving:
In some rural areas of state, there is a textile, which is called as Plus. Plus looks like a coarse weave rug, and its texture is like rug. It has a dimension of about 250 * 350 centimeters. To produce it, they usually use number 2 cotton yarn for warp, and number 5 cotton yarn for woof in different colors. Sometimes, instead of a woof yarn, they use narrow strips of cloth cut from used clothes and use as low cost ground cloth. Sometimes they use wool for texture, which is waterproof of moist and is suitable for wetlands. Typically, weaving of plus, takes about two days. Consumption is included to ground cloth, bag, prostrate cloth, saddle bag, and so on.
Pouch weaving:
One of the traditional handicrafts of Ardebil state is called pouch weaving. The pouch texture and type of its raw materials are quite like carpets and patent leather, and the only difference is its dimension and size. CHANTE is consisted of two pieces of rectangular woven carpets of approximately 40 * 30 cm in size, elegantly seamed from three sides (envelope type), and on the two sides of the bottom there are two painted tassels and in the upper part, there is a rod such as bag. CHANTE is a traditional bag that weaves in most villages and nomadic areas. In some villages, they also knit CHANTE by the method of rug or JAJIM weaving. (It should be noted that some people, weave CHANTE by mixture of some knits of carpet, rug and SOMALK).
QARAGHI Stove:
In the province of Ardabil, the tribes of the DASHT MOGHAN region, weave a fully handmade knitted woolen cloth, which is called in the local dialect as QARAGHI oven. The naming is due to the fact that it is used in front of the oven and under the brazier and is a kind of shield to keep the carpet or other ground clothes safe from flames. In local language, there is an expression as QARAGH (cover) for the stove. . The designs of the oven are geometric and mental, and in terms of texture and appearance, it is quite similar to JAJIM and has local consumption. The old ovens were like horseshoes, but to make them comfort, they made them rectangular now.
Crochet:
One of the most beautiful handicrafts in the state is needle weaving. Many types of hook-woven products are said to be crocheted using natural fibers. Crochet has various techniques in texture and design. Many products such as clothes, hat, gloves, linen, many kinds of decorative tablecloths, bedspreads, knitted dolls and ... They have a functional and decorative aspect. They are produced and woven in this way. Almost all parts of Ardebil state are familiar with this art and this is a kind of entertainment for women and girls.
Horse manta:
One of the beautiful and nomadic handicrafts of the state of Ardebil is manta. Mantas are designed to decorate the horse and camel. Horse manta`s role is to keep the horse warm, and the it is decorative and ceremonial. But in aspect of the camel, it is decorative. The main body is a rectangle with two hinges are attached to it. These hinges are covering the horse's back. The difference between the horse's manta and manta of camel is that, manta of hose is larger than the camel's manta and it is stitched together by two pieces of cloth, so that the hump, remains outside. Generally, in most parts of the state, manta of horse and camel are produced with various shapes and decorations, and are made in the form of rug, carpet, JAJIM and needle type. Tribes of Azerbaijan, DASHT MOGHAN, Kurds of KHORASAN, Turkmen, Fars, VARAMIN and IL AFSHAR, weave and decorate manta in their own style. For example, in Turkmen desert, manta is made of cloth, applique and cotton with fine needle work. In KERMAN state, they make manta as rug, needle designs, SHIRIKI PEACH design with warp and woof of wool, and among the tribes of Azerbaijan, the JAJIM texture technique is used to produce the manta. Horse manta is common in nomadic areas of Ardebil state.
Saddle weaving:
Saddle weaving is produced in most rural areas and nomadic societies with geometric patterns. Its raw materials are colored wool, cotton yarn, and sometimes goat's hair. And it is used for transportation on bicycle, motorcycle or cattle. The width of this wrap is between 30 to 90 and woven as a configured. The saddle bag that are woven in Ardebil state are of higher quality, more beautiful and are mainly produced and supplied in rural and nomadic areas of Ardebil state.
Carpet weaving:
One of Ardebil's traditional handicrafts is called carpet weaving. Many people use the word of FARSH instead of GHALI word. Here is a brief explanation of the difference between these two words. GHALI is a texture which has woven on a scaffold (vertically or horizontally), short pieces of fibers are tied by a special technique around parallel warps to make woven fabrics with tufts (long peaches make the surface of the carpet soft and smooth). Its raw material for warp are: wool, fleece, or throw silk, and for the woof are: cotton yarn, wool or less twisted silk, and has a slippery, pink or geometric pattern.
The word FARSH is Arabic and its past participle is carpeted. The carpet in Arabic means the earth, and is the synonym of the word "throne", that means the sky and can be applied to all kinds of ground cover, for example: paved, mosaic carpet, rug, mat and …..
Carpet designs are divided into 19 main groups, which include:
1. Map of monuments and historical buildings
2. Shah ABBASI map
3. Slim map
4. Spray map
5. Adaptation map
6. Mapping
7. The bush group
8. Tree Map
9. Turkmen map
10. Frame map
11. Frame map (another type)
12. Foreign flower map
13. Potted Map
14. Mixed fish map
15. MEHRABI Group
16. MOHARAMAT map
17. Geometric Map
18. ILIYATI Map
19. Compilation map
But what is certain is that the number of primary and secondary motifs in Iran's carpets are more than what we know.
MASNAD:
One of the beautiful handicrafts of the state is called as MASNAD. The said rug, is unique to NAMIN district of Ardebil with approximate dimensions of 110 * 170 cm and is woven like rug on scaffold. MASNAD designs are usually the altar and is used as prostrated cloth. Other types of MASNAD with various designs, at the top of the room, are special for guests, and the reason for naming it may be due to this work. The motifs are all geometric and do not have curved or revolving motifs. The texture of the vertical lines is staggered and symmetry is observed in the weaving. One of the characteristics of MASNAD is the hard contrast of colors between the background and the design.
Raw material of MASNAD, cotton yarn of 20.18 triplex for warp and colored wool yarn with number of 5.2, as woof. The MASNAD is also manufactured in dimensions of 70 * 90, 60 * 90 and 70 * 100-1 * 1.90 cm.
MAFRASH:
One of the beautiful crafts of Ardebil province is MAFRASH. The said one is a rectangular and has a door, box-shaped box, and used to transport quilts, mattresses or household appliances, during the transfer of EYEL SUN tribes. This beautiful hand woven fabric is woven with weaving techniques of rug, VERNI and carpet. And its designs are sometimes prominent and complementary. MAFRASH designs are appealing and cheerful, and its production is more common among the nomadic tribes of EYEL SUN.
Salt cellar weaving
One of Ardebil handicrafts is salt cellar weaving. The woolen salt is used by the tribes to store and transport large size salt or rubbed one. Salt cellars are mainly woven in tribes using a variety of techniques. The back of the salt cellar has a simple design of the rug weaving in different colors, and on the salt cellar, they are using techniques of VERNI weaving or carpet weaving. After finishing the texture, the fabric is considered as a lining inside the salt cellar so that the salt does not touch the wool. The general form of salt case is in the form of a bottle. The designs used are mind-boggling and made from surroundings of the weaver`s. Among them are animal pictures (deer, fox, sparrows, ducks and many more) and plant graphics (Cedar trees, Sycamore trees and others).
Local costumes:
One of the traditional and native industries of the state is the sewing of local clothing. Perhaps we can proudly say that no country has the same size as Iran in terms of the variety of designs and colors of local clothing, which is perhaps due to the ethnic diversity that we see in Iran. After centuries and with the advancement of machine industries, we still can see local clothes on the people of the village, especially the tribes, when we go to the villages.
Doll weaving:
One of the handicrafts of the state is doll knitting. Certainly, doll making has been a symbolic, ethnical, religious, and art man for thousands of years. And this way of thinking has spread thousands of years ago. In Ardabil state, according to the customs of the various regions of the province, puppets are produced in various ways with local clothing. "TAKAM" is considered to be one of the mythical dolls of the province, which circulates in the streets and neighborhoods of towns and villages in the days of NOWRUZ and announces the arrival of spring.
Surface weaving and needle work
Surface artwork is the adorning the surface of the fabric with the help of colored needles or colored things or hooks. After the creation of a fabric that protected the man against cold or heat and other basic necessities, like other things, man removed it from simple form and decorated it and made it luxurious, which, according to the culture and traditions of every ethnic group, it has its own changes.
Pottery:
One of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of Ardabil state is pottery, which is consisted of making and supply of objects made of baked dust such as bowls, jars and .... If the products are without glazes, they will be called pottery. Pottery is mainly made of secondary soils. Secondary soils are soils that are constantly moving and displacing, therefore, they are less purified and more adhesive and need to be cooled to a temperature of about 950 to 1000 degrees centigrade. The most important secondary soil are variety of clays with scientific name of Earthen Ware And their natural color changes from chickpea to red. The term "English ceramic" has exactly the same meaning as the Greek word for pottery in the Persian language KERMOSE which means clay. The pottery history in the province of Ardabil dates back to the Parthian period and before it.
The major centers of active production in Ardebil state is ANAR village, a branch of MESHKINSHAHR. Mosaic:
One of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of the state is mosaic, which consists of large and small pieces of tiles, which are carved on the basis a design with different forms and colors, and placed beside each other in the form of a larger piece.
Among the mosaic tile production centers are Isfahan, Mashhad and Tehran. There are also several workshops in Ardebil city. The types of tile colors used in mosaic include: white, dark blue, turquoise, green, orange and...
Saddler:
It is making a horse saddle using leather and the person who does this job is called as saddler. This job was common in Ardebil state, especially in Ardebil and MESHKINSHAHR, but now it is considered to be obsolete.
Painting on leather:
One of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of Ardebil state is leather painting, which is the traditional painting and design on leather, moreover used extensively and has particular beauty. For leather painting, they usually use tanned sheep leather which has cream color. The method is to prepare the canvas first (the canvas is consisted of fiber and sponge in thickness of half or one centimeter), after the preparation of the canvas and the installation of leather on it, we have to draw the desired design is on the designing paper and then transferred to the leather by carbon, draped the paintwork with paint and started painting with a brush. Then we have to give more color to the design by rapid and start the painting by brush. Colors used in painting on leather are pigmented colors and it`s solvent is alcohol. After the painting, the resin solution is used for the stability and color glossing. Ultimately, VERNY is used for transparency, shining, and insulation. Painting on leather is widespread in KHALKHAL and Ardebil cities.
Knife making:
One of the traditional and beautiful handicrafts of the state is knife making, which is a long standing industry with a long history in Iran. The best weapons were made by artists in this field. The history of this art dates back to the era of the Medes, because the discovered works of that era are beautiful handmade weapons. The raw materials are iron and the knife`s haft is made from deer horn or ivory. In the past, they were doing inlay on a hilt of sword and other things, and today this work is done more simple. The tool are hammer, sledge hammer, a scissor, furnace, and some more. The method of work is that the master, beside the fire furnace, heats the iron and changes it`s with hits of sledgehammer in to knife, stiletto, GIZLIK, sugar breaker, etc. Then, with great skill and using simple tools consisting horns of animals or ivory, they adjust the haft. After finishing the work, they sharpen the knife and apply chromium water on it. Typically, ZANJAN's knife makers, put their name on a blade of knife. Jewelry, tapestry, oyster and ivory are the decorations which are used by artists in their products. Small decorative knives which are used as key chains till big swords are the products of the knife makers. Knife making was a job in Ardabil city for decades and is now obsolete.
Traditional smithy:
One of the crafts in this state is smithy. In the old days, artists of this field in the cities and villages have been engaged in manufacturing products such as sickle, hammer, spike, horse harness, cow and many more. In contemporary time, as animal husbandry and agriculture became industrial or semi industrial, so these artists are making decorative applicable products like pot base, partition, window protector and so on. The basis of their work, like scrubbing and drying, is heating metals by Forge, blowing, hitting and stable connection, to get the final shape just like knife making. CHALANGARI is the old name of forging, which is now known as FERFORGE.
FORGE is common in the cities of Ardebil and MESHKINSHAHR.
Local jewelry:
One of the traditional handicrafts of Ardebil state is local jewelry. Raw material production are of metals such as brass, copper, silver and ... and stones are such as turquoise, agate, jade and... . The method of production is that they first melt the metal in furnace and then with the help of frame, they pour it into the desired shape, which often consists of a circle, a quadrangle, triangle, paisley, fish, and so on. Then, by inserting the mentioned gems, they provide beautiful jewelry such as: bangles, rings, hair jewelry, necklaces, earrings and many more producing local decorations are more common in the city of Ardabil.
Etching:
One of the oldest crafts of the state is etching. The history of this old art dates back to the time of the "Scythians" or "Sites". These people lived in the Caucasus about five to seven thousand years ago and have an Aryan race. To create a work, they first fill (inside or below) of infrastructure (container or tray), usually made of copper, silver and sometimes gold, with the solution of bitumen and gypsum (to prevent the noise of the shaft and puncture through impact), then sketch the design (traditional design) on the dish and select the desired stylus which has different tips and according to the design, the hammer is slowly stamped to the end of the shaft with a rhythmic melody. Among the styluses, the shadow shaft and half cut are more important. After the work is completed, they remove the bitumen, and pour charcoal pollen into the grooves and cover the plate with black oil, then remove the extra oil and clean the container. Shafted motifs appear in bold and dark lines.
Coppersmith job:
One of the most popular handicrafts in the state is coppersmith work. This job is one of the industrial arts (industrial arts are belong to that group of handicrafts which have more industrial value than art value) and consisted of all kinds of plates, tools and workable instruments. These products are obtained through work with hammer. This job is outdated and coppersmith market is remained as memorial.

Tapestry:
One of the beautiful crafts in this state is called as Tapestry. In this art, they convert the gold or silver into thin wire (circular or rectangular and jagged edges) and then they form and give designs to the prepared wires by an elegant clamp in a block, then artists are heating and connecting the wires by a substance called silver welding.
Usually with gold tapestry, ornaments such as gem necklace, necklace, ring and earrings were made. And also with tapestry, utensils such as tray, clamp, cup, glass and jewelry are prepared.
Tapestry is common in Ardebil.
Plumbing:
One of the traditional and beautiful crafts of the state is plumbing and that is the manufacturing and supplying various types of consuming appliances such as samovar, tray, images, etc.
Nickel silver alloy of 20% nickel, 35% zinc and 45% copper and has silver color. This metal got good form and we can prepare beautiful consuming infrastructures which have suitable applications. Then, we can do etching on the metal and make it more beautiful.
In recent decades the art prevailed in Ardabil and is obsoleted now.
Mirror work:
Mirror work is one of the traditional arts of the state, which is mainly used to decorate the ceiling and walls of sacred places and many more. The method of doing this is to create delicate and attractive surfaces by cutting the mirror into small geometric pieces, and then placing them on the surfaces of the walls and ceiling. Mirror designs such as their own flowers have a variety of designs.
The mirror work is common in some cities of Ardebil state.
Cane weaving:
One of the traditional crafts of weaving called straw weaving and covers the tent wall and habitat of EYEL SOUN tribe. Cane is beautiful and prevents the entry of heat, cold, wind and soil. This is because the canes are hollow and thus act as insulation. In case of rain or cold, humidity increases volume of cane and stick them together and prevents the entry of cold or rain.
In case of heat and dry weather, canes expand and closes the entrance of air. Because the tribes are nomadic and cane have always considered to be their tent`s wall, so we can be compare their history with their nomadic history.
The volume making of wood:
One of the beautiful handicrafts of this state is wood volume making. Wherever there is wood in Iran, there
making the wood volumes are common. When the human desired to build volumes and the statue, so made the wood as a raw material for his work. In terms of physical facilities and fine texture, products of wood volumes are exquisite, beautiful and admirable. The tools for this art is about the same in carpentry job and woodcarving.
Today, this art is more or less common in most of Ardebil cities.
Lathe:
one of the traditional and beautiful crafts of Ardabil state is called as woodturning. Woodturning is one of the industrial craft of Iran, where they do horizontal lathe to wood cut. In the history of this art, it can be said that in the remains of Persepolis carvings, some motifs were found from the throne and the royal stool and censer which woodturning made on them. The raw material of this art is varieties of SEDAL wood.
This is for sure that, as much as the wood is more concentrated and strong, we can do more elegant work and its durability also increases. In old days, work tool was consisted of a frame which had a pedal and both sides of wood were attached to it and by an arc, the wood was rotating around its own axis.
Today, however, this part is using electricity and lathe workers have somewhat easier work. Other tools include a varieties of cavern which is a tool and its head looks like nail and, of course, also used with other edges.
The method of work is like this: The wood is fixed in the orifice of 3 systems machine or pedal, then pressure is applied on wood by carven which is rotating on its own axis, by this way, the desired figure can be done by woodturning.
Items such as hookah wood, furniture bases, lamp shade, etc. are made by woodturning.
Ardabil city has multiple workshops of woodturning.
Traditional instruments:
One of the traditional crafts of Ardabil state is making traditional instruments. Because traditional music is only possible with their own instruments, these instruments are made by Iranians and so far as it is produced by the same way.
Instruments made by artists are followed as: Sitar, Azeri instrument, fiddle, TOMBAK, dulcimer and many more which are made from nuts wood, betel nut, berries, boxwood, etc. And for its completion, metal wire and sometimes camel bone or animal skin are used. To decorate the instruments, some arts such as inlay, calligraphy, painting and some other are used.
The cities of Ardebil, MESHKINSHAHR and KHALKHAL are active in the field of traditional instruments.
Wood carving:
One of beautiful traditional crafts and wood carving in the said state is wood carving. By this art some consuming instruments such as chess pieces and backgammon, boxes, KASHKOUL plates for mendicants, syrup spoons (royal spoon), door of holy sites and many more are produced.
Suitable woods for this art are walnut wood, betel, red pomegranate, yellow pomegranate, maple and better than all is pear wood. Half-open cavern, small tube carven, match box cavern, large and small brushes, anvil, MARPA (a blend of the rasp and saw) and jigsaw are tool works of the said art.
Wood carving is mostly practiced in Ardebil city.
Diaphoretic:
One of beautiful handicrafts of the state is sudorific.
Diaphoretic is the action of the burn on wheat golden stems. Artists of this field are using wheat stems to stick letters or designs on cloth or paper and by soldering iron or a heated metal skewer, they create a burn on wheat stem and by this way, they make the work more beautiful.

Wood lattice:
One of the beautiful handicrafts is wood lattice. Wood lattice is accompanied, often with other wood arts (especially woodcarving). For starting wood lattice work, after the implementation of the desired target on the wood, negative parts of the plan are removed with the help of tools such as carven and jigsaws out to meet the original design to remain as lattice. Usually, remaining designs are inlaid to make the design more clear and beautiful.
Sudorific wood:
One of the beautiful and traditional handicrafts of the state is diaphoretic. Sudorific is one of the beautiful fields of handicrafts in Iran that uses a variety of woods (about 70 to 80) and are having different colors and also sometimes produced by using materials such as camel bone, shell, copper, brass, silver, gold, ivory and lay for beauty or completing the task. Used woods in the art of mosaic wood, camel bone, shell, copper and brass, silver, gold, ivory and inlaid. Wood used in the diaphoretic are: olive, boxwood, orange, betel, jujube, walnut, acacia, hornbeam, pearl, and KIKAM. Producing sudorific is like this: some desired pieces of wood are selected (in terms of color and texture of wood) and have cut in desired shape and size (flowers, leaves and stems) and imprint them in desired place. The work was finally done by doing polyester on the work and get emery and polished. The art of sudorific is used to produce table cover, picture, mirror frame, chess plate, etc. wood diaphoretic is common in most of Ardebil cities.
Wood carving:
One of the beautiful traditional handicrafts of the state is wood carving. The root of carve word is derived from plant which means grow. And this is because outstanding of flower and plant on wood, stone and many more are like plant grow on them. And particularly, most of the designs are plants. Carving is an art of engraving on the wood according to plan. Raw materials used in the carving art are varieties of wood. Of course, as much as the wood is harder and more compact, inlay work becomes better, looks better and remains more durable, such as walnut, boxwood and pear (original color). The system of task is as follow: On the basis of design, which are mostly ARABSEQUE and KHATAEE designs are carved on the wood with simple tools and highlighted the designs with great volumes which has special beauty.

All kinds of Arabesque designs, KHATAI, fauna, humans, flowers and birds, Kofi lines, original colors in inlay of doors, book rest of holy Quran, furniture, tables, all kind of boxes, picture frame, mirror frame and calico stamp are used .
Now wood inlay is in common in the cities of Ardebil, MESHKINSHAHR, KHALKHAL, NAMIN and PARS ABAD.
Lithograph:
One of the traditional handicrafts is lithograph and it is to manufacture some products which have raw materials from many kinds of stones. Used materials in the manufacturing of these products are: turquoise, marble, jade, sandstone and other ordinary and soft stones. Masons are getting raw stones from the mountain and are dividing them into required parts. Additional sections are removed by the big stylus and hammer and do the finishing work by smaller shaft.
Then they use comb shaft (its edge is like comb) and finally to speed up the work, they use a machine which is like electrical saw to polish the stone and do the finishing.
Stone carving was common in the last decade in the village of AALI (a branch of MESHKINSHAHR) but now it is obsolete.
Illumination:
One of handicrafts of the state which is part of the fine arts is the art of gilding and it is gold work and designing arabesques and KHATAI motifs on book or painting (miniature). In other words, decorating the writings and images with gold color mineral and other natural plant colors or mineral such as blue, ocher, indigo and many other colors with designs of flowers and plants or geometric which are intertwined.
Since the art of bookbinding for Iranians, always was considered as very important and respected and always decorating the book after the text was considered, so illuminators were invited to decorate the book and surely illumination were used for the valuable books.
Art of illumination was done by using brush, mineral and vegetable dyes and gold plates. But today ready- made colors are used. Today prepared illuminates are available, though printed gilding works are in access but are not worthy as original gildings. Isfahan and Tehran are the most important centers for this art.
It should be noted that fine arts are having more artistic value than industrial value.
TASHEER:
One of the traditional handicrafts of the state is TASHEER which is belong to the fine arts. (Fine arts handicrafts refers to those which have more art value than industrial value). TASHEER refers to those decorative motifs which is used in most of the designing and painting works, scrapbooks and manuscripts and includes decorative motifs of arabesque, KHATAI and different designs of birds and mythical beasts such as HOMA, falcon, Phoenix, lion, leopard, deer, gazelle, dragons and many more. The difference between Illumination and TASHEER is that in the first place, in TASHEER, gold color (and gold derivatives) used and secondly drawings of animals, birds, plants, trees and clouds dominate arabesques and KHATAI motifs. Golden colors derivatives include: golden-green, reddish gold (vermilion), Golden yellowish orange (ASHRAFI). While in the illumination, other plant and mineral dyes are also used. TASHEER art history, dates back to history writing, book writing and manuscripts but at SAFAVID era, this art reached to its peak promotion.
Binding:
One of fine handicrafts of the state is binding. Book in the view of the ancient Iranians had a special prestige and therefore the best possible ways were used to decorate and maintain books. Since in ancient days, the books were written by hand or the Quran which is divine revelation and authors of the books were great scholars, binding of these manuscripts were done very carefully and delicacy . Cover of book, in fact represented the text and created enthusiasm, mood and respect in reader. Artist binders, not only were using finest leathers to produce a book cover but also tried their level best decorate the cover of the books. According to experts in British museum, binding experts used half a million hand-made designs in some book covers. To make more beauty, leather covers were blocked by hard leathers (in artist point of view, hard leather blocked is more accurate than wooden block. Then they could apply the golden color on highlights and sometimes they are making the background in azure color and they were finishing the motif of the book`s cover by lines and some designs. Today this art is produced rare and on the basis of the order only.
Traditional binding:
One of the traditional handicrafts of the state is binding. This art was done very well because book was having much value among Iranians and now the artists are using this art to repair the old and damaged hand-made books. The system of this work is in this way: first of all, book binder is putting the book under press (tight pressure) after mushroom dispose. Then part to part, they are attaching the book by lining and thread. After paper lining to the first and last pages of the book, they are attaching the whole content to the back edge. When this binding process is finished, the book is handed over to the book binder. It is to be noted that in the past the pasting process was done by isinglass but today, different kind of gums are used. Now in some cities of the state, such as Ardebil and NAMIN, binding is done in the traditional way.
The traditional design:
One of handicrafts in the group of Fine Arts is called as the traditional design. Daresay traditional designing has root and is the mother of all the traditional arts and handicrafts of Iran. Each product of handicraft should have a basic design. Traditional design is the art of arranging a variety of objects, such as paper, wood, metal, glass and a variety of traditional Persian symbols such as KHATAI, the arabesques and geometric patterns.
KHATAI designs included: flowers and leaves such as SHAH ABASI flower, butterfly flower, lotus leaf and congress leaf. Arabesque motifs are consisted of round designs (cloudy), Arabesque dragon mouth, simple Arabesque and various kinds such as MARI Arabesque (dragon), and so on. Basically, the design is beautiful, which makes the product beautiful and important. The handicraft artist with a right and beautiful design, can work on copper, and same piece of copper will have more value than the gold of its own weight.
Miniature:
One of the fine handicrafts of the state is miniature. The word miniature means small nature. In the art of Iranian painting, nature is depicted not as a picture but as artist wants to see. In the old days, the tool was provided by the artist himself, including brush and paint. The brush was made of marten`s hair or cat`s hair, which was placed in a tail`s pod of the pigeon`s king wing and was tied tightly with isinglass and yarn. Colors were made from a variety of plants and minerals such as saffron, nil, and many more.
Today tools are more modernized and painting work has been partially changed. Schools of Shiraz, Herat and some other places, each of which had a certain effect. Today master FARSHCHIYAN and master MIRBAGHERI have developed new models which are very beautiful in its own kind and are pride and honor to the art of painting in Iran among other countries.
Felt mat:
One of the beautiful traditional handicrafts of Ardabil state is felt. Felt mat can be prepared without using scaffold. To prepare it, weaving work is not necessary but by using two properties of wool (lock detection and spallation) the felt is prepared and also by pressure (rubbing), moisture, heat which is resulted in the dislocation of fiber. So the felt is produced. The raw material which is used in felt production is only sheep spring wool with long fibers in different colors. It should be noted that note, we can assume a little soap and yolk as used materials for production of felt. Tools for felt workers are canvas cloth which is used to tie the felt and special tools are not necessary. Only effort and tolerance of the artist makes the felt. Production of felt usually takes one day time. The important point is that, to produce felt of two into three meters, the volume of wool is used is same as volume of wool used in a carpet of the same size. But the price of felt is much cheaper than a carpet because the felt is made in a short time (one day). System of making felt is like this: in the beginning, the design is made on the canvas cloth by using the wool colored wools, then batting wool is put over the entire surface of the desired part. Then by wrapping burlap and rubbing it and then pouring boiling water the felt is produced. Felt mat is common in MESHKINSHAHR.
Fedora:
One of the beautiful traditional handicrafts of Ardabil state is felt. Felt mat can be prepared without using scaffold. To prepare it, weaving work is not necessary but by using two properties of wool (lock detection and spallation) the felt is prepared and also by pressure (rubbing), moisture, heat which is resulted in the dislocation of fiber. So the felt is produced. The raw material which is used in felt production is only sheep spring wool with long fibers in different colors. It should be noted that note, we can assume a little soap and yolk as used materials for production of felt. Tools for felt workers are canvas cloth which is used to tie the felt and special tools are not necessary. Only effort and tolerance of the artist makes the felt. Production of felt usually takes one day time. The important point is that, to produce felt of two into three meters, the volume of wool is used is same as volume of wool used in a carpet of the same size. But the price of felt is much cheaper than a carpet because the felt is made in a short time (one day). System of making felt is like this: in the beginning, the design is made on the canvas cloth by using the wool colored wools, then batting wool is put over the entire surface of the desired part. Then by wrapping burlap and rubbing it and then pouring boiling water the felt is produced. Felt mat is common in MESHKINSHAHR.
And these fields also are parts of the handicrafts of this state: patent leather weaving, felting, hosiery, scarf weaving, needle work and basket weaving.