Mehrabbori (altar shape plaster cutting) in Timurid miniatures

Iranian miniature paintings very well reflect the structure and decorations of Iranian monuments. Therefore, they are good secondary sources to refer to and compensate for the lack of information in the study of Iranian architecture. In the present article, the plaster ornaments (stuccowork) that are reflected in Behzad’s and Mirak’s paintings—two famous painters of the Herat school of painting—have been studied and analyzed. The present article claims that there were no Tong-bori ornaments in either Timurid miniatures or Timurid architecture. The ornament which is depicted both in Timurid miniatures and seen in Timurid buildings is “Mehrab-bori” (plaster cutting in the shape of a mehrab). The faces of Tong-bori ornaments are similar to ewers and pitchers, whereas the faces of Mehrab-bori ornaments are similar to mehrabs. Therefore, it is better to name the motifs as Mehrab-bori. Based on the analysis of miniature paintings and historical texts, it can be said that Mehrab-bori was designed to decorate grand buildings like palaces, pavilions, and mausoleums and it was also used for exhibiting exquisite objects in buildings of the Timurid era. Some royal buildings that have Mehrab-bori ornaments can be called chini-khaneh..