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Cross-shaped tile from the Shrine of Imamzadeh Yahyah, Veramin
Persian
Ilkhanid
1261–63
Place of Manufacture: Kashan, Iran (Persia)
Medium/Technique
Composite body (quartz, clay, and glaze frit), overglaze painted in metallic luster pigment
Dimensions
Width point-to-point 30.8 cm (12 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Keith McLeod Fund
Accession Number2001.683
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsTiles
This and many similar tiles have been associated with an Ilkhanid monument located south of Tehran: the Imamzadeh Yahyah. This shrine is one of many dedicated to the descendants of one of the Twelve Imams. It serves both the purpose of a tomb and a space of daily devotion. In the years following its completion (around 1310), the interior of the shrine was lavishly decorated with luster tiles and intricately carved stucco. The tiles, which are in the form of interlocking star and cross shapes, bear rich brown luster decoration. Motifs adorning them include arabesque and vegetal patterns, and they Qur'anic inscriptions are inscribed all around the periphery of each shape. In recent centuries many tiles have been removed from this shrine and scattered across the globe in public and private collections.
InscriptionsQur'an verses
ProvenancePurchased at Skinner, Inc. Auctions, Sale of Asian art, Boston MA, 10/20/2001, lot no. 788, together with two other tiles. From estate of Mitchell Siporin, an American (Boston) artist, who purchased the tile in Rome in 1967 from an art/antiquities shop, Arte Persiana, and brought it home to the US after a year spent in Rome on a grant. Tile was consigned to Skinner by the late Mr. Siporin's daughter, Judith Siporin.