Endangered crafts

A Persian inlay art in which fine rods of wood, bone and metal are bundled into star units, sliced into thin sheets and applied to a wooden surface to form dense geometric tessellation.

A pileless, reversible cotton floor covering associated especially with Meybod near Yazd, woven on a vertical loom with ground heddles and pattern harnesses that control its geometric, often two-colour design.

A silk weaving technique producing a cut or voided pile on a foundation weave, used in Iran for garments, cushion covers and furnishing panels, with figured Safavid velvets among the most studied survivals.

A figured silk weaving technique in which supplementary wefts, often including gold- or silver-wrapped thread, create pictorial or floral designs on a silk ground.

The chiselling and piercing of steel into plaques, standards (alam), locks and fittings, often with inscriptions or arabesque openwork.

A ceramic decoration in which metallic oxides are painted onto a glazed surface and fired in a reducing kiln to produce a metallic sheen, associated especially with Kashan.

The carving of bone and, historically, ivory into figurines, plaques, combs and inlay elements, also used as a component in khatam.

The hand binding of manuscripts and books with leather or lacquer covers, often with a flap (lisan) and stamped, cut or gilded decoration.

Traditional Iranian string-puppet theatre, and the craft of making its carved and costumed puppets, including the well-known character Mobarak.

A patterned Iranian brocade woven with supplementary wefts, historically in silk and wool, associated above all with Yazd and Kerman.

The Iranian tradition of decorating copper, brass and silver vessels with small chisels struck by hammer, working the metal into line, ground and relief.

A narrow-strip flatwoven textile, usually made in warp-faced bands on a portable loom and then sewn together into a wider cloth, traditionally used as bedding cover, floor spread or door hanging by village and pastoral households.

A resist-dyed and block-printed cotton textile, historically associated with Isfahan, in which carved wooden blocks stamp repeating floral and figural patterns onto cloth in successive colour stages.

A hand-embroidered wool textile from Kerman in which coloured silk or wool threads are worked in dense chain and satin stitching over a woollen ground, typically in a limited palette against a natural or dyed field.

A metal-thread embroidery technique in which fine gold or silver wire, or wire-wrapped thread, is couched onto velvet or other heavy cloth to create raised, reflective patterns, historically used on ceremonial garments and furnishings.

A non-woven wool textile made by matting and pressing raw wool fibres with moisture, heat and friction rather than by weaving, traditionally produced across Iran for floor coverings, cloaks and protective mats.

A metalworking technique in which fine drawn wires of silver or gold, often twisted or beaded, are soldered into openwork lattices and coiled floral forms to build jewellery, vessels and decorative panels.

A historic overglaze-enamelled stonepaste ware produced mainly in Iran during the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, decorated with figural and courtly scenes painted in multiple colours applied after glazing and fixed by a low second firing.

A joinery technique for building geometric lattice screens and panels from small, precisely cut wooden pieces assembled without glue or nails, using interlocking notched joints to form windows, doors and room dividers with openwork star and polygon patterns.

A relief wood-carving technique in which solid panels, furniture and architectural elements are carved directly with chisels to produce raised or recessed floral, arabesque and geometric ornament, distinct from inlay techniques that build a surface from separate pieces.

A decorative technique in which papier-mâché or wooden objects, such as boxes, mirror cases and pen boxes, are painted with fine miniature-style scenes or floral ornament and then sealed under multiple coats of clear lacquer varnish.

A decorative technique, associated particularly with Mashhad, in which small chips of turquoise are set edge to edge with adhesive onto a metal object's surface to create a dense mosaic-like covering, most often seen on vessels, jewellery and decorative plates.

A northern Iranian needlework tradition associated with Rasht in Gilan, combining wool felt or broadcloth appliqué with chain-stitch embroidery for covers, hangings and saddle cloths.

A broad term for Iranian needle embroidery on cotton, silk or wool grounds, including counted, darned and satin-stitch work used on covers, garments and prayer cloths.

Decoration of brass, bronze or steel vessels by setting silver, copper or gold into cut recesses, producing figurative scenes, inscriptions and ornament in contrasting colour.

Iranian glass includes Sasanian cut glass, early Islamic mould-blown and cut vessels, and later blown bottles and rosewater sprinklers, with a small studio glassblowing tradition today.

The weaving of mats, baskets, fans and containers from date-palm leaves, reeds and rushes, practised especially in southern and northern Iran.

A decorative paper technique in which pigments are floated and manipulated on a thickened liquid bath and then transferred to a sheet of paper by careful contact, producing swirling, veined patterns historically used for manuscript covers, borders and endpapers.

A hand-knotted pile textile woven across Iran in city workshops, village looms and pastoral camps, distinguished by regional structure, palette and design vocabulary.

The workshop carpet tradition of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan, characterised by drawn cartoons, a distinctive hook-knife weaving method and a wide range of fineness grades.

The Iranian tradition of small-scale painting made for manuscripts and albums, built from fine line, flat luminous colour and layered spatial convention rather than single-point perspective.

A hanging cursive script developed in Iran for Persian poetry, distinguished by its sloping baseline, sharply contrasted thick and thin strokes, and sweeping final letters.

Square polychrome tiles painted with several overglaze colours and fired together, allowing large architectural schemes to be produced faster than cut tile mosaic.

A thick, coarsely knotted pile rug woven mainly by pastoral and village weavers of the Zagros, with open fields, few motifs and a directly personal design language.

A flat, pileless woven textile made across Iran by interlocking or slit-weaving coloured weft threads over a warp, used as floor covering, storage bag, saddle cover and tent divider depending on region.

A traditional handmade summer shoe with a cotton-thread woven or crocheted upper and a sole historically made of pressed cotton fabric or leather, produced in a number of Iranian towns known for the craft.

A decorative technique in which powdered coloured glass is fused by heat onto the surface of gold, silver or copper objects, producing a smooth, glossy coloured surface, historically practised in Isfahan on vessels, jewellery and decorative panels.

A technique of architectural revetment in which monochrome glazed tiles are cut into small individual pieces to a template and set together, glaze face down, into a mortar bed to form complex polychrome patterns and inscriptions.

A regional pottery tradition centred on the town of Lalejin near Hamadan, producing thrown and press-moulded glazed and unglazed earthenware, from utilitarian storage vessels to decorative tableware, in a large number of household workshops.

Iranian jewellery ranges from gold and gem-set court ornaments to silver tribal adornment, often combining enamel, turquoise, pearls and coloured stones.

Stonepaste wares painted in cobalt blue under a clear glaze, produced in Iran with strong dialogue with Chinese porcelain, especially in the Timurid and Safavid periods.

The carving and moulding of gypsum plaster into architectural ornament, including mihrabs, inscriptions, muqarnas and wall panels.

The carving of marble, limestone, alabaster and softer stones for architectural elements, gravestones, inscriptions and vessels.

The workshop making of Iranian instruments such as the tar, setar, kamancheh, santur and oud, combining woodwork, skin membranes and inlaid decoration.

The decoration of manuscript pages and album leaves with gold and coloured pigments in geometric and floral designs framing text or painting.

Earthenware decorated with coloured slips under a clear or tinted glaze, including early Islamic Nishapur-type wares and later village production such as Lalejin.

The cutting, stitching, tooling and painting of leather for bags, belts, bookcovers, saddlery and small goods.

Hand-knotted city carpets from Kashan, often in wool or silk, known for medallion designs and deep reds and blues.

Very finely knotted city carpets from Nain, recognisable by ivory and blue palettes with silk highlights.

Durable, geometric village carpets from the Heris area of East Azerbaijan, with large angular medallions.

Village and tribal carpets from the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari region, best known for the garden (khesti) design of repeated panels.