Engraved Plate with Tazhib Design

Introduction

Engraving is the decoration and carving of designs on metal objects, especially copper, gold, silver, brass, or in other words, creating lines and designs with a chisel by hammering on metal objects. Engraving is one of the traditional Iranian arts, classified in the industrial arts and in the metalworking group. Engraving on copper. Making objects with copper, brass, silver, etc., by the cold method is called ‘dovetailing.’ This art, with its thousands of years of history, flourished during the Achaemenid period and reached its peak during the Sassanid period. Nowadays, for engraving, first, the inside or the bottom of the desired dish or tray, usually made of silver or gold, is filled with a mixture of bitumen and plaster to reduce the noise of chiseling and also to prevent the dish from being pierced during the work. Then the desired design is drawn on the dish, and the appropriate chisel is selected and placed on the surface of the dish, and the end of the chisel is hammered to create grooves and designs with varying intensity on the dish. The chisels of this art are diverse and have their specific names. After creating the designs, the bitumen is removed, and charcoal and soot are sprinkled on the grooves, and the surface of the dish is covered with black lacquer. Thus, the engraved designs appear as dark and distinct lines, like an image.