BOOK OF LACQUERED WORKS FROM PERSIAN

​

The Iranian artists developed a technique to preserve painted wood and cardboard for centuries to come. This technique involved using a herbal solvent which through a process of evaporations.  And artist can repeat the process the achieves the desired sheen level which ranges from matte to gloss which in turn protects the work against the elements throughout time. Some artists avoided using alcohol in the process for religious reasons and instead used a mixture of sandarac and seed oils and it probably led to naming these works as “oil works” too.

The first example of lacquered works dates back to Timurid era by an artist named Mirak. The original works included stamping the leather with heated steel mallets to create book bindings. As this was a very difficult process it might be the motive for artists like Mirak to turn into painting directly on leather and using lacquered painting to draw motifs on their works which included trees, dragons and Simurgh.