درپوش‌های سفالین کندوی عسل: گنجینه‌ای ناشناخته از هنرهای عامه تبریز

یکی از گونه‏های ناشناخته از هنرهای تصویری قاجار و پهلوی، نقاشی‏های روی درپوش‏های سفالین کندوی عسل است. این درپوش‏ها به قطر تقریبی 23 سانتی‏متر بر روی کندوهای حصیری به طول حدود 85 سانتی‏متر نصب می‏شدند و یک سوراخ جهت عبور زنبورها در کنارۀ آن‏ها قرار داشت. در این مقاله برای اولین بار ده‏ها نمونه از این درپوش‏ها که از اواخر عصر صفوی تا دورۀ پهلوی اول ساخته شده‏اند، معرفی می‏شود. مهم‏ترین مسئلۀ این تحقیق شناسایی محل تولید این درپوش‏ها، دسته‏بندی مضامین نقوش و کتیبه‏ها و تحلیل محتوای آن‏هاست. نتایج نشان می‏دهد که این آثار را می‏توان به سه گروه کلی کتیبه‏دار، نقاشی‏های مذهبی و نقاشی‏های غیرمذهبی دسته‏بندی کرد. در میان آثار کتیبه‏دار، اذکار و دعاهایی نوشته شده که باید آن‏ها را وسیله‏ای جهت برآورده شدن حاجات و نیز تعویذی برای دفع بلاها از محصولات تلقی کرد. همچنین برخی از دعاها و آیات قرآنی در ارتباط با افزایش برکت محصول و نیز دفع چشم‏زخم هستند. علاوه‌بر کتیبه‏هایی با محتوای «ناد علی» و «اسم اعظم» که بر شیعی بودن آثار دلالت می‏کنند، تمام نقاشی‏های مذهبی شناسایی‌شده نیز مرتبط با باورهای مذهب تشیع است. نقاشی‏های مذهبی شامل تصاویری از دلدل، پنجه و زیارتگاه‏های امامان شیعه ازجمله آستانه‏های کاظمین و نجف است. در میان نقاشی‏های غیرمذهبی، بیشترین فراوانی به تصاویر حیوانات اختصاص دارد که آن‏ها را در نقش‌مایه‏های درخت زندگی یا صحنه‏های شکار نشان می‏دهد.

ceramic beehive covers: an unknown treasure from the folk arts of tabriz

introductionapiculture has long played an important role in iran’s food industry, especially in the northern and northwestern regions. a type of beehive that was popular in azerbaijan and is introduced in this article is cylindrical woven hives. the dimensions of these hives are about 30×85cm, which, on one side, has a fixed ceramic lid with a hole for bees to pass, and at the end, it has a movable wooden lid for harvesting honey. nowadays, many examples of painted ceramic lids representing folk culture themes survive that were mainly made in tabriz or its surroundings. the earliest and latest known examples bear dates back to 1115/1703-4 and 1354/1935-6. in this article, with access to about 150 examples of these lids, the form and content of these works have been examined, and the images of 52 beehive covers are published. the most important questions of this research were identifying the provenance of these examples, classifying the themes of the images and inscriptions and analyzing their content. studying these examples can help us to understand the religion, culture, and art of the shiite people of the tabriz region in recent centuries.research backgroundso far, no comprehensive research has been done on ceramic beehive covers. in 1993, the sotheby’s auction offered a collection of 100 painted beehive covers (sotheby’s, 1993, pp. 98-113, lots 186-195) and by the end of the twentieth century, several examples were offered again. germanidou and konstantinidou have published a very brief paper about a painted beehive cover showing a scene of a beekeeper harvesting honey (germanidou and konstantinidou, 2013, pp. 249-252). on the other hand, strangely, no significant research has been done on tabriz pottery in the qajar and pahlavi periods, and the present article is considered an attempt to fill this scientific gap.discussionin general, the remaining examples can be classified into three groups: those with inscriptions, religious paintings and non-religious paintings. among the examples with inscriptions, in two cases, the prayers of “oh the one who judges needs” and “oh the remover of calamities” are mentioned, which should be considered as prayers to seek help from god to meet the needs and repel calamities from bee products. in two cases, the prayers of “nād ‘ali” and “ism-i ‘azam” are mentioned, which can also be considered as amulets to ward off calamities, and have been popular among the shiites. quranic and religious themes should also be considered in connection with increasing the blessing of the product. in some examples, the verse of “wa in yakād” can be seen that is one of the most widely used verses of the quran among the iranian people to ward off evil eyes. although the reflection of quranic verses on the beehives can emphasize the importance of honey in islam as a healing substance, interestingly, the verses and hadiths narrated about honey are not quoted, but prayers and verses from the quran are written that are associated with blessing of the products and repelling calamities and evil eyes. religious paintings are generally shiite and in a general classification include images of panja (khamsa), doldol and shrines of shiite imams. the doldol motif, which is a combination of the iconography of buraq (a beast said to have transported the prophet muhammad to heaven), and the lion and sun also refers to the first shiites imam. among non-religious paintings, images of animals, whether in pairs or single or next to humans, are the most common. a few examples have also depicted rural scenes, wonders, hunting and etcetera.conclusionamong the cases with inscriptions, prayers were considered as a means of seeking help from god to meet the needs and also as an amulet for repelling calamities from the products. quranic verses can also be considered in connection with increasing the blessing of the product and repelling evil eye. in addition, the panja symbol was also used to ward off evil eyes and calamities. in addition to shiite inscriptions, all identified religious paintings are related to shiite beliefs. religious paintings include images of doldol, panja, and shrines of shiite imams, including the thresholds of kazemayn and najaf. the images of the panja and the names of the five people (the prophet, his daughter, imam ali and his two sons) in some of the images of the shrines show the shiite beliefs of the people of azerbaijan. doldol, the mule of the prophet that was given to ‘ali ibn abi talib, is a symbol of his rightful imamate for the shiites. although the doldol motif is similar to the iconography of buraq, the depiction of a lion on its back is reminiscent of the symbol of the lion and the sun. among the non-religious paintings, the most frequent are paintings of animals, which are usually depicted in hunting scenes or on both sides of the tree of life. in these paintings, we are faced with different degrees of abstraction, depending on the skills and imaginations of different painters, various images have been created. finally, the study of these examples contributes to our knowledge of the religion, culture and folk art of the shiite people of azerbaijan in recent centuries and is a prelude to further studies on the folk arts the qajar and pahlavi periods.referencesgermanidou, s., & konstantinidou, a. (2013). an unusual ceramic beehive lid decoration from nineteenth-century tabriz. iran: journal of the british institute of persian studies, 51, 249-252. sotheby’s. (1993). a collection of beehive covers, persia, circa 1735-1935 a.d.: the property of dr a. middlehoek of the netherlands, lots 186-196. in islamic and indian art, london, thursday 29th april 1993, 98-115. sotheby’s.