minakari / enameling

Minakari, or enameling (also known as Talavera in Central America and Canada), is a method of decorating objects with enamel (Mina). It is an art and a craft—one of the most essential and iconic forms of Persian arts and crafts.

What is Minakari Enameling?

Minakari is the art of painting stunning intricate designs on surfaces of metals or pottery. Mina kari is coating a floral background on metal, glass, or ceramics. It is very similar to vitreous enamel. Meenakari is Iranian enameling, typically done on ceramics, porcelain, pottery, and metal, such as gold, copper (known as copper enameling), silver, aluminum, steel, brass, bronze, and glass (known as glass enameling).
Iranian Minakari artisans use Persian blue, turquoise, green, yellow, and white in their minakari art masterpieces.
For creating a pottery or metal minakari work, a metalworker first selects the metal or pottery object as the starting material and then shapes and sizes. Then, they evenly coat the object with a white glaze. Then, they decorate the glazed metal object with hand-drawn floral and abstract patterns before being cooked in a kiln at 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. When bringing out the artwork from the kiln, it is covered with a higher-quality glaze and fired again.

Different Styles of Minakari

Various containers can be turned into authentic Persian masterpieces through minakari, which gives you a great range of options based on personal taste and the interior design of your home or workplace. Meenakari can be categorized into three styles:

• • • Pottery Minakari: It does Mina techniques on stunning pottery objects.
    • Metal Meenakari: Coating the copper (or some other metals) surface.
    • Painted minakari: Done to different ornament types of containers.
    • Grooved meenakari: Involves designs being engraved on the object.

Minakari Usages

Minakari is done to adorn metal and non-metal containers like pottery with decorative designs. Works of enameling are among the wealthiest and most exquisite Persian handicrafts and can suit as:

• • • • Splendid and unique small decorative objects
      • Outstanding gifts for friends
      • Promotional and corporate donations and awards
      • Tableware
      • Decorating wall with the art of painting on Menakari wall plates

Different Products According to Usages

Minakari artists create a great variety of Minakari products, the most popular of which include:

• • • • • Plates, bowls, vases, picture frames, and framed meenakari — which are sometimes decorated, in combination with minakari, by crafts such as gilding, khatamkari, miniature painting, and jewelry making
        • Decorative objects such as Khatamkari and enameled boxes, tea and beverage sets, armors, mirrors, hookahs, Quran boxes, pen cases, belts, meenakari bubbles, snuff cases, rosewater pitchers, photo albums, dagger scabbards
        • Enameling jewelry, such as earrings, necklaces, rings, and pendants A powder coating is applied to the metal to make enamel jewelry. The powder coating is fused to the base metal at extremely high temperatures.

Minakari Price and Buying Tips

It is essential to find out the price of Minakari before purchasing them. It is easy today as CyrusCrafts' enameling page provides a guideline of the different types of Minakari. You may find mina kari items from $100 to $5,000 in the market. Within your desired price range, it starts from 60 and can go up to 1,500 United States dollars depending on the design and materials.

Authentic Minakari, Distinguish with 6 Characteristics

Top-quality works of meenakari exhibit a set of distinct characteristics, namely:

1. Flatness and evenness of enamel base surface
2. Being free of cracks, cuts, chips, bubbles, holes, or scratches
3. Glossiness
4. Evenness of paint thickness
5. Authentic and delicate Persian patterns
6. High-class and intact glaze coating on the container's back/bottom

You just read a complete guide about Mikahari or Mina Kari enameling art. Mina is one of the oldest ancient Persian artworks. CyrusCrafts offers the world unique Iranian handicrafts with the highest quality and prices. Only fill out the products' order form for ordering handmade Persian rugs and carpets, woodcarving furniture, decorative handicrafts, clothes, accessories, or organic foods. We will deliver your orders with free shipping and quick delivery.