Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran

🕰️When was it built?

The house was built in the 1910s as the home and office of Ahmad Qavam. It was later used by the Egyptian embassy and then by a commercial bank. In 1976 it was bought to become a museum, and Iranian and Austrian engineers renovated and prepared it.

🏛️What was it built for?

The building went from a home and workplace to a museum of glass and ceramics. Pre-Islamic pieces are on the lower floor and Islamic-era pieces in the halls above. The showcases and interior were designed by Hans Hollein.

👀What you will see

• The ten-sided building stands in a garden, and its brick facade is laid in many different patterns.
• The door frames and parts of the stairs are carved wood, and the ceilings and columns are decorated with stucco.
• The showcases take their shapes from the columns of Persepolis, the Tachara palace and the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht.
• The Zarrin Hall holds Seljuk lustreware, some of it decorated with writing in Naskh script.
• The Lajevard Hall holds turquoise Ilkhanid pottery and vessels from later periods.

💡Something interesting

In the Lajevard Hall there is a Qajar table glazed in seven colours, showing figures from the Shahnameh. Each figure's name is written above its face, so you can tell the characters apart by reading them.

🎒Good to know before you go