KHATAMKARI
The khatamkari is one of the beautiful and old Iranian handicrafts. In this article, we will introduce you with: history of khatam, how to make khatam, how to recognize a good khatam,
The khatamkari is to make the surface of objects look like a mosaic, with small triangles. Khatam’s various designs have always been in regular geometric shapes. They plot these geometric shapes by placing small triangles together. Triangles are made of wood, metal and bone. A product is more time-consuming, with its triangles smaller. In a Khatam design, at least three triangles are created to make the smallest geometric unit. The largest one has four hundred triangles.
History of khatamkari
khatamkari come to Iran in the present form before the Safavi period, at the time of the Mongol. Some other scholars also believe that Khatam was invented at the time of the Deylamians in Iran and in Shiraz. At the time of Safavi, it reached a peak, because the government supported the artists. on the other hand, the establishment of commercial relations with distant and close countries contributed to the development of Khatam’s art. In Iran, before the advent of Islam, a kind of khatam was prevalent. it’s manner of working was to cut from a single color of cubes to the sides of four millimeters and to install different designs on a plate. this method until several centuries after Islam has been commonplace. At present, there is a pulpit by this method in the Mosque of Aghig in Shiraz, which is more than a thousand years old.
The outstanding khatamkari in different periods:
1.Khatam’s kist of Narjes Khatun, the dear mother of Hojatollah (AS) in Samarra.
- Entrance door of Ancient Iran Museum in Tehran.
- Entrance door of the holy shrine of Abdulazim (AS) in Shahrery.
- The kist of the Prophet Moses ibn Ja’far (AS) and Imam Jawad (AS) in Samarra in Iraq.
- …
Click here to learn more about handmade carpet and enameling.
How to make khatam:
khatamkari has two stages
1.Creation of Khatam: includes
design of the Khatam.
preparation of materials.
cutting of raw materials.
creation of the shape.
construction of a rectangular cubic shape with approximate dimensions (length of 40 cm and a width of 10 cm and a diameter of 3 cm of wood or khatam) and then Cut it and make a layer of khatam.
2.Use of the khatam: Includes design, underlayment, pasting the layers on the sub-plot, and then polishing the objects.
How to make khatam
In khatamkari handicraftman cut a piece of wood, bone or metal into triangular prisms and put them together in such a way that the transverse sections of these triangles have regular geometric shapes.
Then, with adhesive, it tightens the thin sections with a special order on the wooden thin sheet, and after drying the sheets, it will be installed on objects to decorate.
Wood is one of the most important materials for the making of khatam, including: jujube, orange, maple,walnut,tabrizi, shamshad, ebony,… .
Different types of bones are also used in the construction of Khatam due to their strength and white color, which include camel, horse, cattle and ivory in Khatam.
At the time of construction, Colored metals is used to rehabilitate and care of khatam. Silver and aluminum are used for white and brass for yellow.
Care should be taken to provide the wood that has the crack. Metals should also have a good alloy.
Green color : This color is made up of a mixture of ammonium chloride, copper and vinegar. Shredded bones are placed in a colored solution container and exposed to sunlight for six months. Nowadays, since it’s difficult to provide a camel bone, use orange wood instead of a camel’s bone, then make it green.
Khatam Lubrication:
The wood is oiled for two reasons: glossing and protecting it against moisture, heat and cold. In the past, polished oil was used for this. Today they use polyester.
Khatamkari stages:
In khatamkari first, handicraftman make different types of wood and bones in different colors and with their special tools, with a diameter of 30 cm and a diameter of 1 to 2.5 mm.
Several triangles are made of them, after polishing all the sides of the triangles, they are aligned with the plan. And to complete the plan, we need wire in the form of triangles.
Then, in order to make the khatam, the first step is to draw the design of the shapes desired by the handicraftman. then these wooden, bone and metal triangles are glued together with adhesive . Then them tightened by the thread , which is called “parre”.
After a few hours, the thread is opened and the slab is cut and the four blades are put together and re-bonded with glue, which is the result of the “Tugloo”. The next stage, which is known as the “Screw Flower”, is a circular wire, which is prepared as regular hexagonal and called “shames”.
On each side, six wires are glued with adhesive and tight with a stitch and the result is a stellar design, the designs are so repeatable that they come up according to the design and then pressed down and pressed. with a few steps of cutting and sticking very thin layers of wood around it, the original design of a khatam is created.
How to recognize a good khatam :
To detect a good khatam, we must pay attention to the following:
The product surface is smooth and the surface of the object is not empty of khatam.
The uniformity of the colors and materials used in making the khatam.
No change in color and shape.
Repairs and putties are not specified at the product surface.
All shapes at the surface should be symmetrical.