Persian Master Builders in the Cities of the Nineteenth Century Georgia

摘要

Persians formed an important group among the builders working in the nineteenth-century Georgia. They were known as consummate brick masons who mastered the art of constructing complex vaulted structures. They participated in the construction of a number of administrative buildings, barracks, hospitals, caravansaries, and residential houses. Interior decoration work was another field of activity of Persian masters in Georgia. They used rich repertoire of Safavid and Qajar decorative art including stucco ornament, painting, and mirror work. Among the clients of Persian decorators there were high officials, rich merchants, noblemen, and even the members of the Russian royal family. Artisans invited from Persia played a leading role in embellishing "Persian style" interiors in Georgia; however, there were local Persian masters as well. Persians were also engaged in the construction of hydraulic structures such as channels, wells, and dams. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the area of the activity of Persian masons was limited to Eastern Georgia. The majority of them worked in Tbilisi. From the mid-nineteenth century, following the great wave of emigration from Persia, they appeared in the Black Sea littoral cities of Batumi and Poti as well.