The main published sources for the study of contemporary crafts in Persia are H. E. Wulff’s The Traditional Crafts of Persia. Their Development, Technology, and Influence on Eastern and Western Civilizations, published in 1966 but based primarily on data collected while he was principal of the technical col­lege at Shiraz between 1316 Š./1937 and 1320 Š./1941; A Survey of Persian Handicraft, edited by Jay Gluck and Sumi Hiramoto Gluck in 1977, which con­tains a variety of information collected by a team of field workers, lavishly illustrated with color photo­graphs of outstanding works; and Jasleen Dhamija’s Living Tradition of Iran’s Crafts, published in 1979, which is focused more generally on the social and economic context within which the craftsmen func­tioned. Persian craftsmen work in several distinct types of milieu, including small industrial establish­ments, bāzār workshops, cottage industries, and domestic manufacture in village and pastoral contexts. As recently as 1328/1910 a tabulation of urban activi­ties compiled from Russian sources revealed that more than 5 percent of the urban work force in Persia was engaged in carpet production and another 25 percent in metalworking and other crafts (Floor, 1984, p. 5).

In the mid-19th century, when many Persian crafts suffered under the devastating economic impact of European imported goods, Persian reformers inter­vened to revive production and develop skills in Per­sia. Under Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah (1264-1313/1848-96) Mīrzā Taqī Khan Amīr(-e) Kabīr established a number of state factories for the production of military uniforms, cloth, ceramics, glassware, carriages, and various items of household use. In 1268/1851 he also founded the Dār al-Fonūn (Polytechnic school) in Tehran, based on Western models. Artists trained there played a central role in revitalizing craft work in Persia (for a detailed discussion, see Ādamīyat, pp. 295-99, 353-67, 378-420). Toward the end of the century reform-minded clerics and merchants like Majd-al-Eslām Kermānī, Sayyed Jamāl-al-Dīn Wāʿeẓ Eṣfahānī, Mīrzā Naṣr-Allāh Malek-al-Motakallemīn, and Ḥājj Moḥammad-Ḥosayn Kāzerūnī founded in Isfahan the Anjoman-e šarqī (Eastern association) and Anjoman-e eslāmī (Islamic association) to promote consumption of indigenous products. In 1316/1898 a commercial firm, Šerkat-e eslāmīya (Islamic society), was established by the leading merchants of Isfahan; it manufactured and sold cloth but eventually failed (Ašraf, pp. 100-01; Floor, 1987, p. 31).
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