In 16th-19th-century lacquer bindings at the Institute of Manuscripts Named After Mohammad Fuzuli of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS)

In 16-19th century Lacquer Bindings at the Institute of Manuscripts Named After Mohammad Fuzuli of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan; being on the transition route due to its geographical location, Azerbaijan has hosted the civilization of the religions of Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Musavism for centuries besides its own ancient culture. In addition to being a Turkish state, there are traces of the rich artistic heritage of different cultures that have been continuing for centuries in this geography. The important works of calligraphy, illumination, miniature, binding and lacquer binding, which is our subject, are also found in these lands. The most important feature of the 16-19. century lacquered volumes in the ANAS Manuscripts Institute is their stylistic diversity. Among the examples, Eastern and Western styles can be followed either in pattern style or painting. At the time of the research, 39 lacquered binding samples belonging to four different centuries were examined in the library of the institute. Five of them are 16th century, seven 17th century, seven 18th century and twenty 19th century lacquered binding samples. Although miniature and naturalistic floral decoration style are used on the lacquered bindings of the 16th century, the 17th-19th century bindings show a naturalistic floral decoration style. During the same periods, hatayi, a mixture of claw motifs, halkari and zerefshan decoration styles are common features of the period. Goatskin, technically scanning and colouring styles were used as materials on the skin that was examined. Among the studied manuscripts, there is one example of a miniature lacquered binding.