Reviewing the Attitude of "Degeneration" of Qajar Art With an Emphasis on Pottery

The study of the researches carried out in the field of Qajar pottery during the past decades ‎shows that the prevailing attitude towards this art during the past decades is generally derived ‎from a kind of negative thought, which is 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 previous approach still ‎remain on the later researches, and traces of it can be seen from time to time in the conducted ‎researches. The purpose of this research is to evaluate and measure the correctness and ‎incorrectness of the mentioned thought. The question of the current research is whether this ‎attitude has its roots in historical facts or is 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 unexpert and biased comments? In other words, is Qajar pottery really weak in ‎terms of quantity and quality, or has it been subjected to unexpert 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 base of art. It ‎seems necessary to remember that the word "quality" in this research refers to the "technical ‎quality" of the products - including the quality of clay, glaze, colors and firing - and does not ‎include its "visual aspects". From the point of view of the goal, this research is a fundamental ‎research that uses the historical-analytical method and the analysis of information and ‎compilation of the research findings has been done in an inductive way 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. Data collection has ‎been done by referring to library and field documents, and in this regard, various sources ‎including historical texts and sources (books, manuscripts and documents), reports of tourists ‎and political agents, and works and documents in museums have been consulted. Data analysis ‎has also been done by inductive method. The findings of the research indicate that, contrary to ‎what is often acknowledged, Qajar pottery has not only not led to "degeneration" in terms of ‎quantity and quality, but has established a special and distinct place for itself in the field of ‎Iranian pottery. During the Qajar period, the support programs for the expansion and prosperity ‎of the pottery industry by the government and political elites increased significantly, which led ‎to the development of tile making and taking measures in the field of china making. In this ‎period, there was no defect in the production of earthenware and generally monochrome ‎products, but due to the influence of Chinese imports and the loss of its traditional and long-‎standing patrons, namely financiers and political elites, stonepaste ware were unable to produce ‎quality products. Nevertheless, the production of stonepaste ware continued, although 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, their priority is directed to ordering tiles due to ‎the increase in building construction and restoration programs. The change in the social base of ‎art, of course, also brought other effects, including the one that led to the "commodification" of ‎manufactured products, so that Qajar pottery lost the "luxury" character of Safavid pottery. In ‎this situation, Qajar pottery was relegated from the class of noble and courtly objects and ‎became available to the public at the level of commercial goods; Although this problem caused ‎more creativity in Qajar products in the field of design and coloring. On the other hand, the ‎boom in the market of supply and demand following the emergence of the phenomenon of ‎collecting art works by foreign museums and collectors resulted in many orders for Qajar ‎potters, especially in the late 13th and early 14th centuries AH. At the same time, the increase in ‎demand for old works caused the production of fake and fake products known as "antiques". ‎The impossibility of distinguishing some of these products from the original samples indicates ‎the high skill of the potters of this period in producing high-quality products. In addition to that, ‎it is implicitly reminded of the important and effective role of patrons and patrons of works of ‎art in determining the trend of artistic trends.‎