Ghalamzani Plate

Ghalamzani is one of the handicrafts of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz, with each city producing works in distinctive styles. Ghalamzani is the Persian art of engraving patterns on metal, especially on copper, gold, silver, and brass. The artist uses a chisel and hammer to carve out designs and patterns on the metal object.

Today, in the process of producing a work of Ghalamzani, at first, the gold or silver object to be embossed is covered with bitumen and plaster, so that some of the sound and shock of the hammer is absorbed. Then, the engraver draws the desired pattern on the object, selects a suitable chisel, places it on the surface of the object, and hammers away. The harmonized blows of the hammer create beautiful grooves and unique embellishments. When the designs are engraved, the bitumen is removed and the grooves are dusted with charcoal powder, and finally the object is covered with black polish. As a result, the engraved patterns are seen as clear, dark lines.

This millennia-old work of art developed in the Achaemenid dynasty and flourished in the Sassanid era. An engraved sangab (a footed hollow bowl) crafted by the artist Mohammad Mahdi Babakhani from the Markazi province, is preserved in The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property.