The history of Ghalam Zani

The history of Ghalam Zani is attributed to the time of the Aryan race. The prehistoric period of the history of this art in Iran has no clear history and detailed information about the first place or the first object on which Ghalam Zani is hammered or engraved. Not available. The use of metal, especially copper in Iran and the East dates back to several thousand years BC.

In the late second millennium and early first millennium BC, the art and industry of metalworking flourished in various parts of Iran, especially in the north and northwest and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. One of the most important works obtained during this period is the Hasanlu Gold Cup, which was discovered in 1957 and has prominent motifs such as the gods riding on a chariot or chariot.

In the first millennium BC, metalworking and the art of Ghalam Zani in Iran enjoyed special prosperity and prestige, and valuable works from that period have been left, including the Marlik gold cups.

An example of the Iranian art of Ghalam Zani, a large cup with a Messi base, is at the entrance of the WIPO Intellectual Property Organization in Switzerland.

How to build

The art of Ghalam Zani is to decorate and carve patterns on metal objects, especially copper, Persian gold,  Persian silver, and brass, or in other words, to create lines and patterns with a pen with a hammer and on metal objects.

this art is one of the traditional Iranian art disciplines that has a high degree of elegance.

Nowadays, for this art, the inside or under the container or tray, which is usually made of copper or silver, is first filled with a solution of bitumen and gypsum to reduce the noise of the pen and also to prevent the container from being punctured during work.

Then draw the desired pattern on the container and select the appropriate pen and place it on the surface of the container and hammer it on the end of the pen to create grooves and patterns by changing the intensity of the impact on the container.

After making the maps, the bitumen is separated and charcoal pollen is poured on the grooves and the container is covered with black polishing oil. In this way, the Ghalam Zani maps are seen in the form of dark and clear lines.