Identification and Analysis of the Signed Works of Mohammad Bāqer Jahānmiri (The Shīrāz Painter and Tile Painter, during the Pahlavi Era)

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Asadpour Ali

Title

Identification and Analysis of the Signed Works of Mohammad Bāqer Jahānmiri (The Shīrāz Painter and Tile Painter, during the Pahlavi Era)

Author(s)

Asadpour Ali | Issue Writer Certificate

Keywords

Tile paintersQ4

Seven-color Tiles (Haft Rang)Q4

Moḩammad Bāqer JahānmiriQ4

‎PahlaviQ4

ShīrāzQ4

Abstract

Introduction Tile painters artists in Shīrāz played an essential role in preserving Qājār ‎traditions and restoring historical buildings during the Pahlavi era. Among them, ‎Moḩammad Bāqer Jahānmiri (1883-1959), known as "Hāji Moḩammad Bāqer-e-Naqāsh" or ‎‎"Hāji Bāqer," a tile painter, stained glass artist, stucco artist, and mural conservationist of ‎the Pahlavi era in Shīrāz, kept the legacy of the tile Painting alive and worked tirelessly to ‎preserve it until the very end of his life. His works stood out due to his skill in painting and ‎his complete familiarity with ceramic techniques during his time. However, these works ‎have been less studied and categorized. One of the reasons for this is the small number of ‎his works with figures, and another is the shade of Tile painters such as Mirzā Abd al-Razzāq ‎Kashipaz (1867-1937 or 38).‎ Research Method The current research deals with the "interpretive-historical strategy" ‎and an analytical approach to describe, recognize, and study the works and life of ‎Moḩammad Bāqer Jahānmiri, and its final goal is to reach a "monograph." Parts of the ‎necessary data are collected from library sources, and an essential part of the ‎documentation is the result of fieldwork and photography that produced first-hand data and ‎had no previous traces in the research. Since the reference to unsigned tiles reduces the ‎accuracy of the results, only signed tiles have been used as the basis for analysis and ‎classification, and the presentation of samples without signs or those attributed to him has ‎been avoided. Undoubtedly, some signed tiles may be kept in private buildings or personal ‎collections; therefore, access to them was impossible in this research. The research ‎questions are as follows: (a) at what intervals can Jahānmiri's artistic life be divided? (b) ‎Who were his supporters, colleagues, and students? (c) What are the categories of his works ‎and the prevalent themes?‎ Research Findings The artistic life of Moḩammad Bāqer can be divided into three ‎general periods: the first period is the "Qājār period," the second period is the "Rezā Shāh ‎Pahlavi" and the third period is "the Moḩammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi period." Unfortunately, ‎an essential part of the painter Haji Moḩammad Bāqer's artistic life was spent in the ‎turmoil caused by the Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911), the First World War ‎‎(1914-1918), and the Tremendous Iranian Famine (1917-1919). The names of the masters ‎and workshops he gained experience during the first period of his artistic life have not been ‎mentioned, but it seems that the beginning of his artistic life must be in the era of Muzaffar ‎al-Din Shāh. But so far, no significant works of him related to the Qājār period have been ‎found, and there is no document of his collaboration with any tile workshops in that period. ‎The Rezā Shāh Pahlavi era is the second period of Moḩammad Bāqer's artistic life. This ‎short period (1925-1941/ 16 years) can be considered the time when many of his important ‎works were created with Qājār's theme and were less affected by the social and political ‎developments of the time. His employers and supporters in this period were folks and ‎wealthy people who owned public buildings. The third period of Moḩammad Bāqer's artistic ‎life is the Moḩammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi period. This period is from 1925 until he died in ‎‎1959 (18 years). In these days and ages, most of his activities are to carry out essential ‎orders, primarily government employers. The signed works identified by Moḩammad Bāqer ‎Jahānmiri so far, and I observed them from close inspection or documentation, include 14 ‎works that belong to the second and third periods of his artistic life during the Pahlavi era. ‎Signed items can be classified into 5 groups in terms of location:‎ a) Works in residential buildings: Sa'dat and Towhidi houses and tiles on the front of an ‎unspecified house in Shīrāz;‎ b) Works in religious buildings: Vakil Mosque, Jame Atiq Mosque, Siyavshān Mosque, ‎Imamzāde Seyyed Tajuddin Qarib, Imamzade Ibrahim and Aghā Bābā Khān School;‎ c) Works in commercial buildings: Haj Naser Korhani bazaar;‎ d) The works in the monuments: Qorān Gate and Sa'di Tomb;‎ e) The works in health and treatment buildings: Jawanmardi bath and the entrance of ‎Namāzi hospital.‎ Compared to masters such as Mirzā Abd al-Razzāq, his signed method shows that ‎Jahānmiri used his name in many cases in a small, simple, and uncomplicated way. This ‎issue can represent his humble and blushing character.‎ Conclusion In this research, 14 of his signed tiles have been identified, which include a ‎variety of residential, religious, commercial, and memorial buildings. Most of his works with ‎figures from religious buildings and monuments are placed at the end of his life. The ‎available evidence shows that Jahānmiri did not collaborate with any other tile painter ‎except Karim Faqfouri, and there is no indication of the number of other painters who ‎worked under him in his works. However, plaster painters and Tile painters were trained in ‎his workshop, some of which are known in the oral history of Shirāz artists. The classification ‎of his signed tiles shows that these works can be placed in 6 groups, including "floral and ‎bird motif (Gol-o-Morgh)," "Antiquity," "Iconography & portraiture," "Europeanized ‎motives," "Imaginary painting," and "Tile-Epigraphy." Flower and bird tiles and floral motifs ‎can be seen in almost all works and periods of his artistic life. The analysis of the theme of ‎his tile paintings, in general, suggests four ideas as the ideas governing the works. These ‎cases include "Europeanized motifs" (in the design of buildings, landscapes, and Western ‎sceneries), "Religious motifs" (in the portraits of religious narratives and Shi'ite figures), ‎‎"Ancient Iranian motifs" (in the design of scenes and figures from the Achaemenid and ‎Sassanid dynasties), and "Motifs derived from Iranian painting" (in the design of floral and ‎bird motifs and plant patterns). Further studies can validate and verify other tiles attributed ‎to Jahānmiri based on the design and artistic features governing his works with figures, ‎which hopefully would be noticed by others.‎

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Scientific Information Database

ISSN: 2588-4824

Journal Paper

Identification and Analysis of the Signed Works of Mohammad Bāqer Jahānmiri (The Shīrāz Painter and Tile Painter, during the Pahlavi Era)