A Metal Worker

The group was moving its way slowly down a side street close to Esfahan’s famous Imam Square when we heard a tap tap tap coming from a small shop on our left. We peered inside and saw a young man working on a strip of metal, incising it with a tiny, detailed, and quite beautiful design. He said he was practicing his skills.

It turns out that he is an apprentice to a master metalworker, Ali Saee, who was not in the shop at the time. The shop's name is, not surprisingly, Saee's Art Gallery. The image to the left was scanned from his business card. 

The young man showed us an incredible silver Koran cover which the master had just finished.
We thanked him for demonstrating his skill and slowly moved on down the street to our bus. I think he was grateful to get back to his work.