Characteristics of Mirror Work in the Houses of Qajar Period in Shiraz City (In Terms of Implementation Techniques and Type of Decorations)

Mirror work is an art containing small and big pieces of the mirror with diverse motifs of geometrically regular shapes and is a function of particular patterns. The historical texture of Shiraz city has different buildings from different periods, in which, the houses dating back to the Qajar period are of particular importance. Mirror Hall is one of the most decorated parts in the historical houses of Shiraz and its mirror work elements are prominent. The current research addresses the decorative and technical characteristics of the mirror work of the Mirror Hall in the historical houses of Shiraz and aims to recognize and introduce the technical and decorative characteristics of the mirror work elements. This research is of descriptive-analytical, and the data collection method is the library, field study, and interview with the mirror work masters through direct observations and investigation. The most significant question of the research is 1) what are the decorative characteristics in the architecture of the mirror hall of the historical houses of Shiraz and how are they divided into several classes? 2) what are the technical characteristics of mirror work in the architecture of historical houses of Shiraz and how are they divided into several classes. The research results show that the mirror work presented on the body of the ceiling and wall have been applied by silver, mercury, lead, and glass mirror along with the colored glass, marble paper, and calligraphy, gold sheet, and warsaw. In general, it can be classified in twelve groups including plastered mirror, coiled paste on a flat mirror, relief stucco, jewel shape, diamond mirror work, engraved, scraped, convex and lattice volume, two and three-layered, strapped and karbandi, series making, painting behind the mirror and painting on the mirror. The total motifs can be classified into five general groups as geometrical motifs including framing and girih, botanical motifs, natural and livings landscapes, paleography, and objects’ themes.
Keywords: Qajar Houses of Shiraz, Mirror Hall, Mirror Work Techniques, Decorative Characteristic.
 
Introduction
Islamic architecture has a specific concept that benefits from various motifs and shapes in the decorations of the different buildings, the internal part of the buildings in particular. In the meantime, mirror work art is of a particular delicacy and beauty. The historical texture of shiraz has different buildings from various eras, in which, some houses date back to the Qajar era and are of particular importance. The halls of some of the preserved houses from the Qajar era have been decorated with mirror work elements in detail, and therefore, they are known as mirror hall. However, due to the lack of proper conservation of these monuments, these halls are worn out. Also, due to the plurality of the owners, migration, and change in lifestyle, visiting of these halls is not possible for the researchers and enthusiasts and the magnificence of this art is being forgotten. This issue highlights the need to preserve and expand it alongside other arts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and introduce the technical and decorative features of mirror work elements in the hall of Qajar houses of the historical texture of Shiraz. A few studies have been conducted on the patterns of mirror work and its implementation techniques in the buildings of Shiraz. In the current research, after a brief review of mirror background and the history of mirror work in the historical architecture, the technical and decorative features of mirror work have been selected in mirror hall of some of the Qajar and Zandiyeh historical houses of shiraz, and the required information has been collected through interview, photography, and direct observation. The current research attempts to analyze and study the applied motifs in addition to recognizing and classifying the implementation techniques. The research method in this historical paper is descriptive-analytical, and the data collection method is library and field study through direct observation.
This paper seeks to answer the following questions: 1- What are the decorative features of mirror work in the architecture of mirror hall of historical houses of Shiraz and how are they classified?  2- What are the technical features of mirror work in the architecture of the mirror hall of historical houses of shiraz and how are they classified?
The research hypothesis is that the mirror work of the Qajar houses of shiraz has specific motifs and implementation techniques implemented based on the thickness, and relief and the implementation form at three levels of wall, niche, and ceiling, and has been different from Zandiyeh Era.
 
Identified Traces
One of the prominent elements that have always existed in the historical houses of Shiraz is the Mirror Hall. In the historical houses of Shiraz, Mirror hall has been decorated with mirror work elements in detail. The wall’s façade has been divided into two four vertical parts based on the height. The perimeter of the wall in ten mirror halls has arranged the mirror into horizontal and vertical rectangular frames connected with perfect symmetry. The selected samples include 9 houses related to the Qajar era and 2 houses related to the Zandiyeh era. In general, the mirror work presented in the studied sample is on the frames on the body of the ceiling and wall that are investigated based on the implementation techniques and motifs. The motifs used are geometrical and non-geometrical. the implementation techniques are different regarding the form, implementation method, and the thickness of the mirror and some differences can be observed between the Qajar and Zandiyeh era. In general, the mirror work techniques presented in the studied samples are on the frames on the body of the wall and ceiling that can be arranged in twelve groups: plastered mirror, coiled paste on a flat mirror, relief stucco, jewel shape, diamond mirror work, engraved, scraped, convex and lattice volume, two and three-layered, strapped and karbandi, series making, painting behind the mirror and painting on the mirror that resulted in diverse motifs. Also, the applied motifs can be classified into two general groups: framing and girih, botanical motifs, natural and livings landscapes, paleography, and objects’ themes, which will be explained in the following parts. It can be said that the monuments with mirror work in 11 mirror halls represent the cooperation of architect, mirror worker, enameller, carpenter, and calligrapher masters.
 
Conclusion
The research results show that the geometrical motifs include 5, 6, 8, 12, and overlapped girihs. Botanical motifs also include dahlias, lilies, daffodils, wheat, and lotus flowers. The most common animal role is the hoopoe. In presenting natural landscapes, elements such as mansion, palm tree, grape, cypress have been used. Inscriptions include verses of the Holy Quran, names of imams, and poems in Nasta’liq script and Naskh. Items of objects also include clocks, vases, candlesticks, tulips, and lamps. In the mirror halls of Yazdi, Basiri, Kazerunian, Zinat al-Molk, Narenjestan Ghavam, Shaykh al-Islam, and Manteqinejad houses, mirrors of mercury, silver, lead, and glass, and colored mirrors with red, blue, green, gold, and silver shades have been used. However, in the mirror works in the mirror halls of Chakameh house, Tavallai, and Nasir-al Molk house, silver mirror with blue shades have been used along with the gold sheet. In terms of mirror relief in the samples, Narenjestan Ghavam, Nasir-al Molk, Zanjirchi, Zinat Al-Molk, Tavallai, Kazerunian, Manteghinejad, Mofleh, and Chakameh have respectively high to low relief, representing that the Zandiyeh era had less relief in the mirror work. The plaster used in the mirror work has not been a pure plaster in these eras, and it was combined with Sarooj.