At various times and places during the tour we were lucky enough to be able to watch craftsmen at work. Regretfully I do not have any photos of the block printer at work, I only have an example of his craft. But sufficient to say that each colour uses a different block and each block must be lined up with all the others to create a multi-coloured pattern. I have done this sort of work when rubber-stamping and it is not at all easy to line up the block accurately.

We saw two weavers, one with a fairly sophisticated loom with a semi-mechanical shuttle and one with a more primitive loom where the weaver had to throw the shuttle across by hand.

The first, weaving banners or wall hangings in the National Colours of Iran, was the last weaver doing that sort of work. His loom was fairly sophisiticated. Notice his left foot which was working a treadle, and his right hand which was holding a mechanism which, I think, worked the shuttle. His left arm works the beater or comb which compacts the woven yarn. There are multiple heddles - I counted four.

The second weaver was making cloth from camel hair and his loom was a far more primitive affair but he was weaving plain cloth and didn’t need multiple heddles to make a pattern.

We visited the workshop of a carpenter who made lattice work. I have his business card but, alas, I can’t read it and anyway, he was totally booked up with bespoke work.

… and the ceramics. The grandfather was painting patterns on unfired pottery and carving out the in between bits.

… while his grandson apprentice decorated oil lamps in the shape of birds.

The tile maker was deaf which was probably a good thing because his work was very noisy. His job was to reproduce tiles lost from the walls of a mosque which was being renovated and restored. He was making tiles to fit a paper template, after which they would be coloured and fired. The replacement tiles are made in a paler shade to differentiate them from the original tilework still in situ.

I was also shown how inlaid work was done but didn’t take a photo. The man who did the inlaid work sold me a very nice pendant which has been much admired.

The bakers are there to justify the title of this page; I had to work it in somewhere …