The Variety of Arabesque-Rococo Patterns Applied in Naseri Furniture in Iran A Case Study: Decorations of Furniture in Bagh-e-Afifabad and in Narenjestan of Shiraz

Abstract

The term modern Iranian art, coming to the fore from the late Naseri era, refers to an integration of European patterns into decorative elements of the Persian art represented in a wide variety of art forms. When the roots of decorative patterns applied in the furniture of the second Qajar era are examined, one faces a variety of arabesque and French rococo patterns. As such, the elements of forming integrated patterns can be identified. This study hypothesizes that applying the innovative patterns in the second Qajar era furniture is in fact the fruit of integration of aristocratic rococo patterns into arabesque ones. Although such decorations consist of certain non-native patterns, they convey a Persian identity in essence. In a sense, the French rococo patterns influenced by arabesque patterns, originally Islamic-Persian art forms, appeared in the Iranian art in the second Qajar era tinged with slight modifications under the name of aristocratic modernism. In the present research, the arabesque-rococo decorations and patterns applied in the furniture of Bagh-e-Afifabad and in Narenjestan of Shiraz were compared. The cases were analyzed comparatively the results of which, classified and described, were tabulated. The data were mainly collected based on library souce.

Keywords

• decorative patterns
• arabesque-rococo furniture
• naseri era
• qajar artrces