http://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/578351/resize%3Aformat%3DfullStar tile from the shrine of Imamzada Yahyah1261–63 A.D./ 659–661 A.H.Composite body (quartz, clay, and glaze frit),glazed in opaque white and overglaze painted in lusterBeginning in the early 13th century, Kashan potters mastered the laborious process of lustre-painting ceramic vessels and wall tiles. These ceramics required two firings - one after they were glazed and a second after copper and silver based pigments were painted on to create their designs. Kashan potters made many of their lustre tiles in four- and eight-pointed shapes that could be juxtaposed to cover whole surfaces. On tiles for major mosques, they restricted the decoration to plant motifs surrounded by Koranic quotations. But on many other tiles, even ones for popular religious shrines, they painted human figures - characters from epic literature, or, more often, seemingly "generic" representations of hunters, courting couples, or enthroned rulers. Around the edges of these figural tiles, the potters usually inscribed Persian verses about the agonies of love and separation - verses that probably evoked for their readers not just human passion but also the mystic's longing for union with the Divine.Ceramics30.5000000000 Centimeterhttp://collections.mfa.org/objects/8681/rdf