Safavid Wood Carving in Iran Safavid wood carving of the sixteenth century is known to us mostly from doors preserved in mosques in Iran and western Turkestan and in various Museums, such as the Gulistan Museum in Teheran and the Islamic collection in the Berlin Museum. The decoration consists either of arabesque or of floral patterns, sometimes combined with animals. Fine specimens of Safavid work are a pair of doors in Teheran made by ’Ali ibn Sufi in 1509 an a door in Berlin doors in Habib Ullah in 1590.
Metal Work The inlaying of brass objects with silver, which seclined considerably during the fifteenth century continued to be practiced under the Safavids. Copper vessels were often tinned to simulate silver, and iron and steel became popular. The decoration reflected the changing fashions of the time. A typical example of the sixteenth century is a copper bowl with relief decoration of arabesque in the Moore collection of the Metropolitan Museum. It is inscribed with the name of the maker, al Imami from Aleppo, the guilt muster, and the year A. H. 942 (1535/6). Another bowl in the Museum’s collection is decorated with a Safavid pattern of animals, floral, and arabesque and bears the date A.H. (1601/2) and the name of the owner, Mahmud Khan.
The Safavid metal works achieved great skill in the handling of Iron and Steel, producing some excellent pieces which technically are not interior to earlier work. Steel plaques, belts, and other objects show an open work decoration with or without gold inlay. In each case the design of arabesque and floral scrolls is of high quality. One of the belts in the Museum bears the name of Shah Isma’il I and the date A. H. 913 (1507).
