The infrastructure of these items is
made of copper and their outer surfaces are decorated with
enameling (Minakari) paintings.
An introductin to
Minakari
Minakari material is a glass powder that is produced in
different colors and is combined with a special oil and it is
used for painting and decorating metal, pottery, porcelain and
glass dishes and objects. Painted objects are baked in the oven
to stabilize the color. This process is collectively called
victorious enameling (Minakari in Persian). Gold is the only
metal that does not oxidize when melted, so it is possible to
apply finer enamel patterns on it, but today this art is mostly
done on copper. Enameling has been done in different parts of
Iran for a long time, but today the city of Isfahan is the main
center for creating enamel artworks.
Quality criteria for Minakari
products
Currently, Minakari is mostly done on copper objects. The most
important criteria for evaluating the quality of Minakari works
are:
Enamel infrastructure should be uniform and free of excess
parts.
The edges of the infrastructure should be free of green color
caused by oxidation and their surface should be free of cracks
and shouldnt be sharp.
The support surface of the container should be perfectly smooth
and even.
Enamel glaze should be free of cracks, nick, scurf, bubbles,
holes and roughness and its thickness should be the same in all
areas and there should be no bulge points on the surface of
the
object.
The surface of the enamel dish should be sufficiently shiny.The
gloss and smoothness of enamel dishes indicate the use of
high-quality paint and their good cooking in the oven, but if
you feel
rough and uneven when touching the dishes, it is a sign of poor
quality.
The color thickness in painting and enamel decoration should be
uniform and the colors used at the border of the designs should
not be combined together.
In coloring, the original design must be preserved and the
painting done with the utmost care. The created patterns must
be clean and delicately worked.
The back of the dish should have high quality glaze without
cracks and nick.
