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Star tile from the shrine of Imamzada Yahyah
Ilkhanid period
1261–63 A.D./ 659–661 A.H.
Object Place: Veramin, Iran
Medium/Technique
Composite body (quartz, clay, and glaze frit),glazed in opaque white and overglaze painted in luster
Dimensions
Diam: 30.5 cm (12 in.)
Credit Line
Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number07.668
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
DescriptionBeginning 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.
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.
InscriptionsAround border in naskh script: Koran verses, commencing with chapter 112, al-Ikhlas.
ProvenanceDenman Waldo Ross Collection; purchased by Ross from Dikran G. Kelekian, Paris, together with two other tiles (07.669; 07.670) for 3000 francs.
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