Monabat kari

One of the very first materials which humankind was familiar with is wood, in every place of the word you can find natural resources like rock, water and wood, in the basic form the first humans used wood as a basic tool for defending or hunting. During history humans used wood as an ornament or functional resource and they started by cutting and shaping and forming a piece of wood to use it in the form of need. Sometimes the aesthetic properties of the wood were in their mind and the functionality was in shade. For instance, a piece of wood can be cut and formed as a sculpture that the functionality is changed totally or sometimes functionality is more important like making a piece of wood to handle of a spade, in this occasion the functionality is more important and sometime both of them is prominent so the craftsman or carpenter shape the handle by carving in a way that both of the functionality and beauty values conserved at the same time. You can find even today some tools like an ax that the handle or even the metal parts have carvings to bring up both the beauty values and functionality both. Considering these matters, you can find wood carving masterpieces in different parts of Iran in a vast majority of design and form. Wood carving art has special position in Iranian culture and if you go to the courts and religious places of mosques you can find woodworking and wood objects from very small pieces like jewelry box to pen case, from small chairs to very big sofas, from small boxes to huge home and office structures which mostly have carving or gilded motives that used just in very expensive objects. So wood carving art is a pivot point in different art of old and new Iranian culture.

Wood carving, a global art with Iranian tools

As if woodworking is alive in all the countries in the world globally but it has rooted in old Iran definitely. On many occasions before and after Islam religious wood carvings has a very rich history and its role is so strong that even today you can find many people and artists working and acting in this subject as the artists of a thousand years ago. In this wood carving art , the artist uses religious motives and calligraphy and other subjects which have religious statements inside. For instance, he carves the wood by name of religious matters and the faces of religious leaders and other religious stories are carved on a piece of wood. This kind of carvings are used today for example on the big religious pulpit which the leader sits on and preaches for the audience.
In this category we have another form which is named as decorative wood carvings. In this subject the artist uses his talent and ability to create a normal decorative art. Making a good wooden statue or sculpture is a good example for this occasion. In ancient wood carving, most of the wood carving was made according and in the base of natural wood carving. Most of the motives are natural and all the shapes are copied from nature. Most of the time the artist by choosing the shapes, animals and other forms of natural objects tells the story and by carving it establishes them for a long time, sometimes for generations.

 Authentic Iranian carvings in wood carving

In contemporary wooden art of today you can find creative wood carving in a way some very modern forms and shapes and designs used to make a totally modern art far away from natural and traditional matters. wood carved animals and wood carving on any ordinary object lies in this category. In normal workshops there Is a bench which is named wood carving bench. The carver fixes the object on the bench using big or small fixtures according to the size of the sample and starts working on the job. according to factors like time and the object situation, the artist uses the best wood carving set. This set can be big or small. So for a small business you need a small form of the tools and fixtures but for the bigger one you need a big amount of money and human time and talent to do the job. skilled artisans can now create incredibly detailed and lifelike sculptures using computer-aided design and advanced carving tools. 3d wood carving brings a new level of realism and artistry to the world of wooden sculptures.

The secrets of maintaining the wood carving

The secrets of maintaining wood carving is another major and prominent subject. For large wood carvings for sale you need large scale factories and a wood carving store to present your product and offer the final items to the customer and clients. You can find the best wood carvings in the old mosques and palaces and courts of the wealthy people. For achieving the best result, the artists use the best material, wood in small and large scale, depending on the budget of the project. In Iran on normal occasions they use walnut wood for best quality to do the project even if it is very expensive. The craftsmen choose walnut wood because of high quality, simplicity of work like cutting, scrubbing, light to very dark color with good shaping, some very good design of waves in and forms in the wood, and other good technical characteristics. There are other kinds of wood that artists choose to use depending on the demands of the project and budget they consider to spend. On some occasions they need to choose mechanical characteristics of wood for the sake of beauty and color but in terms of color and design walnut wood says the first and last word. One of the reasons wood workers use walnut wood in their wood art works is abundance of it. In most gardens of our country from north to south you can find walnut trees in gardens, in homes in the wild and even in streets.  this tree has a special kind of color which you cannot find in other trees and the mechanical characteristics is good enough to use in many occasions from furniture to jewelry wood works and even making rifle handmade stocks, walnut wood is very expensive but everybody likes to have one piece of wooden art that is made from walnut wood.  One of the other reasons craftsmen use walnut wood is hidden to a very amazing secret. Most of the country is in shortage of water except the north around the Caspian sea. Most of the country is located in the hot desert zone and there is no water to plant large trees and even there is little water just shrubs and desert dwarf plants have the chance to tolerate, so the craftsmen had the shortage of wood to work. Walnut is an exception. If you plant it and take care after years you have a tall tree which is tall and thick enough to use as a lumber to work on it. The Walnut tree is a gift for the whole country as woodworkers and carpenters. But today, because of the simplicity of the transportation system, importing wood from other places inside and outside of the country is possible, and you can have the best wood in your workshop just by ordering your desired sample in a very short time.
 
After choosing the best block of wood, the artist starts choosing the best part and it is natural to do the best he needs too, today the craftsmen have the best tools to do their job because of the wealth distributed to the society and they have the possibility to import and buy high quality and modern tools which they need from national and international companies. To make a carving wood work the artists make the design of paper and to transfer it on the surface of well-polished wood he uses the carbon paper. After transferring the design he starts carving of wood by different kinds of tools like chisels , files , different kind of cutters , or even today electric carvers and grinders… .etc. the artist starts the job on the surface of desired wood and for the days and years he or she repeating this job until the last steps of the job like polishing by sand papers , sanding machine and at last the whole wood work is covered by a thin layer of covering like lacquer or polyester or another collating suitable to the surface of the wood and the atmosphere they want to use it. For instance, in the desert there is not moisture so the wood has different tensile style but in the north because of the sea there is lots of moisture in the atmosphere that should be considered as a changing parameter in the mechanical characteristics of wood, so the protection coating is so important.
Because of the importance of religion in eastern countries specifically Iran and Isfahan which they are more conservative, you can find the best wood carving in the mosques, religious schools, public and private religious libraries you can find the best wood carvings.  in form of niche, pulpit, windows and even desks and chairs. So in future if you visit Iran and Isfahan pay attention to the wood carvings to the mosques and religious places. Sana Persian wishes to visit you in Isfahan soon.