Mo’araq (mosaic) vs Haft-Rang (7-color) tiles – Masjidi Shah Isfahan. This photograph shows a rare example where 2 different tile techniques have been used in one composition. Mo’araq (above) are tiny shards of tile hand chipped into tiny pieces and assembled into a final design.
This technique is the older of the two and produces more vibrant and long-lasting tiles (hence notice it’s colors have retained their original hues much better than the Haft-Rang tiles). Haft-Rang tiles only began to be widely used in the 17th century.
TThe Haft-Rang system makes tile production cheaper and quicker. The same designs produced by countless mosaic pieces are outlined onto square tiles by a thick black liquid which will serve as a barrier between the various color glazes. Then each glaze is a applied to the tile.
In the Haft-Rang system all the glazes are fired together, this results in some glazes not being fired at optimal temperature or long enough- this was particularly important as glazes used to be made from naturally materials. As a result glazes are not a strong.
Meanwhile, for Mo’araq tiles each color is fired individually at its own optimum temperature and then assembled together in the final design. Though both styles are beautiful, the Mo’araq system is generally considered superior when it comes to Timurid and Safavid compositions.