Tehran, YJC. One does only have to take a look at some works of Iranian toreutics to realize the traditional wealth of craftsmanship behind it.
What has come to be
called the Near Asia and Persia is largely known as the cradle for the bronze
civilization. The areas now situated in western Iran have given us unique
examples of man’s mastery over metal since olden times. The Bronze Age, many
believe, was to see its heyday around four thousand years before Christ in the
area now called Luristan. A wealth of cultural heritage from that time and
place is now on show in museums from Iran to Europe.
Luristan bronzes: 9th-8th century BC, Luristan
Female figure, part of Bronzes from Luristan exhibition at Cernuschi Museum, Paris.
The art grew over time into what is now practiced mostly in historical, art-friendly cities like Isfahan. Toreutics is one of the many things that attract visitors to such cities. It has assimilated subject matters from centuries of Iranian art, philosophy, and history into harmonious depictions of man, nature, and abstract notions.
Geometrical shapes as well as Persian miniature and calligraphy is worked into hard metal. The metal work usually comes in the form of gold, silver, bronze, brass, or copper utensil. The outcome is of a high price and it will be used rather for decoration than everyday use. As interior design has grown more elaborate in the past years, the market for toreutic handicraft which will accomplish the interior decoration has also grown more promising. Molded replicas have also emerged which usually offer cheap products with lowly applications, but those who know the true wealth of the traditional handicraft will always go for the worked carved out by long and tortuous chisel-work.