بازنگری نگرش «انحطاط» هنر قاجار با تاکید بر سفالگری

مطالعهٔ پژوهش‌های صورت‌گرفته در زمینهٔ سفال قاجار طی دهه‌های گذشته، بیانگر وجود نوعی اندیشهٔ یکسونگرانه و غالباً منفی نسبت به این هنر در عرصهٔ مطالعات هنر اسلامی است که آن را آغاز دورهٔ «انحطاط» در تاریخ سفال ایران تلقی می‌کند. هدف این پژوهش، ارزیابی و سنجش درستی و نادرستی اندیشهٔ مذکور است. سوال تحقیق حاضر این است که آیا این نگرش، ریشه در واقعیات تاریخی دارد یا حاصل برداشت‌هایی نادرست از تاریخ و هنر قاجار است؟ در پژوهش کیفی حاضر،‌ از روش تحقیق تاریخی- تحلیلی استفاده شده و گردآوری داده‌ها با مراجعه به اسناد کتابخانه‌ای و میدانی و تحلیل داده‌ها به روش استقرایی انجام پذیرفته است. یافته‌های تحقیق حاکی از آن است که برخلاف آن‌چه که اغلب اذعان گردیده، سفال قاجار به لحاظ کمّی و کیفی نه تنها راه به «انحطاط» نبرده بلکه جایگاه ویژه‌ و مجزایی را در گسترهٔ سفال ایران به خود اختصاص داده است. در دورهٔ قاجار، برنامه‌های حمایتی جهت گسترش و رونق صنعت سفال از سوی دولت و نخبگان سیاسی به‌طرز قابل ملاحظه‌ای افزایش می‌یابد که این مسئله منجر به ترقی کاشی‌سازی و انجام اقداماتی در زمینهٔ چینی‌سازی می‌گردد. در این دوره، تولید ظروف خمیرسنگ به دلیل واردات چینی تا حدودی دچار نقصان می‌گردد، اگرچه ساخت آن برای بازار جدید مشتریان نوظهور طبقهٔ متوسط استمرار می‌یابد. از سوی دیگر، می‌توان دید که با تغییر پایگاه اجتماعی هنر در این دوره علاوه بر گسترش دامنهٔ حامیان و سفارش‌دهندگان سفال، به دلیل افزایش برنامه‌های ساخت‌وساز و مرمت ابنیه، سفارش کاشی در اولویت قرار می‌گیرد. علاوه بر این، تحت تاثیر پدیدهٔ جمع‌آوری آثار هنر اسلامی و رونق بازار تقاضای هنر ایرانی، هنر قاجار نیز مورد ‏توجه موزه‌ها و مجموعه‌داران اروپایی قرار می‌گیرد که این مسئله، حجم زیادی از سفارشات را برای سفال قاجار و حتی محصولات تقلیدی با کیفیت مشابه آثار گذشته در پی دارد.

reassessing the issue of degeneration of qajar art with an emphasis on pottery

a study of the research carried out in the field of qajar pottery ‎shows that the prevailing attitude towards this art during the past decades has generally been derived ‎from a kind of negative thought, which is basically defined by keywords such as “degeneration”, ‎‎”vanishing”, ‎‎”decline”, “deterioration” and “stagnation”. ‎even with the change of attitude ‎towards qajar art since the end of the 20th century, the effects of the mentioned approach still ‎remain on the later research, and traces of it can be seen from time to time in the conducted ‎research. the purpose of the present study is to evaluate and measure the correctness and ‎incorrectness of the mentioned approach. the question of the current research is that whether this ‎attitude has its roots in historical facts or is it just the result of a wrong understanding of qajar history ‎and art? in other words, is qajar pottery really weak in terms of quantity and quality, or is it ‎subjected to adverse and biased comments? in this ‎regard, the frequency of qajar pottery production level will be investigated in accordance with ‎the underlying and influential factors in the process of qajar artistic trends, including the ‎discourse of development and reform, supply and demand market, and the social bases of art. it ‎should be noted that the word “quality” in this research refers to “technical ‎quality” of the products - including the quality of clay, glaze, colors and firing - and does not ‎include their “visual aspects”. this fundamental research applies the historical-analytical method. data collection has been done by referring to library and field documents with reference to various sources, including historical texts (books, manuscripts and documents), ‎accounts of travelers and political agents, and the works and documents preserved in museums. data analysis has also been done by inductive method and in a round-trip process. the target ‎community of the present research is the qajar era pottery, including dishes, tiles and various ‎pottery objects, which were sampled in a targeted manner. the findings of the research indicate that in contrast to what has often been asserted, not only the qajar pottery has not been faced with “degeneration” in terms of quantity and quality, but it established a ‎special and distinct place for itself in the field of iranian pottery. during the qajar period, the ‎support for the expansion and prosperity of the pottery industry by the government ‎and political elites increased significantly, leading to the development of tile making and chinaware production. in this period, no defect could be seen in the ‎production of earthenware and generally monochrome products, but due to the influence of ‎chinese imports and the loss of traditional and long-standing patrons, namely financiers and ‎political elites, creators of stonepaste wares were unable to produce products of high quality. nevertheless, the ‎production of stonepaste wares continued, though not with the previous quality, for a new ‎market of emerging middle-class customers. on the other hand, it can be seen that with the ‎change of the social base of art in this period, in addition to the expansion of patrons and ‎customers of pottery, the priority is directed to ordering tiles due to the increase in building ‎construction and restoration programs. the change in the social bases of art ‎brought about other effects; including the one that led to the “commodification” of manufactured ‎products. accordingly, qajar pottery lost the former “luxurious” character of safavid pottery. under such conditions, ‎qajar pottery was relegated from the class of noble and courtly objects and it became available to ‎the general public at the level of commercial goods. in spite of that, this issue caused more creativity in ‎qajar products in the field of design and coloring.