Tehran Tilework
Tile
1800-1850 (made)
1800-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Tile panel incomplete (six tiles in two parts), fritware mixed with coarse buff-coloured clay, comprising four square tiles and two rectangular tiles, covered with tin-opacified white slip and polychrome painted. The elaborate design imitates Qajar enamelwork on gold. The design is complex and carefully ordered consisting of a series of pictorial and floral themes vertically aligned from top to bottom:-
This square tile partially depicts two winged semi-nude female figures holding bowls of flowers above an escalloped oblong cartouche containing the motif of a lion and dragon interlocked in combat. They are floating on a turquoise ground with spiraling tendrils in black. The lion, facing right, is painted in yellow with his fur shaded in grey. It is biting the dragon's neck. The dragon, also facing right, in shaded and stippled pink, has a long snake-like neck and head. His body is coiled around the back of the lion, above them is a stylised sun motif in the form of the face of a Qajar beauty. The cartouche is supported by another incomplete shaped cartouche. All on a golden yellow ground strewn with stylized flowers. Along the left side is a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of medallions of European buildings alternating with flowerheads, against a deep blue ground.
Near the lower left corner is a Persian inscription in black, 'd... sgm', perhaps a signature.
Mounted on a wood frame with three other tiles in an ebonized wood and gold lined frame.
This square tile partially depicts two winged semi-nude female figures holding bowls of flowers above an escalloped oblong cartouche containing the motif of a lion and dragon interlocked in combat. They are floating on a turquoise ground with spiraling tendrils in black. The lion, facing right, is painted in yellow with his fur shaded in grey. It is biting the dragon's neck. The dragon, also facing right, in shaded and stippled pink, has a long snake-like neck and head. His body is coiled around the back of the lion, above them is a stylised sun motif in the form of the face of a Qajar beauty. The cartouche is supported by another incomplete shaped cartouche. All on a golden yellow ground strewn with stylized flowers. Along the left side is a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of medallions of European buildings alternating with flowerheads, against a deep blue ground.
Near the lower left corner is a Persian inscription in black, 'd... sgm', perhaps a signature.
Mounted on a wood frame with three other tiles in an ebonized wood and gold lined frame.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Tehran Tilework |
Materials and techniques | Fritware mixed with coarse buff-coloured clay, tin-opacified white slip and polychrome painted. |
Brief description | Middle East, Ceramic, Tile; Tile, glazed earthenware, with vertical design of a lion fighting a dragon within turquoise cartouche, and angels holding roses, against yellow background, and side border vignettes of urban landscapes and flowers, mounted in a set of three, but part of a larger panel composition, Tehran or Shiraz, Iran, 1800-1850 |
Physical description | Tile panel incomplete (six tiles in two parts), fritware mixed with coarse buff-coloured clay, comprising four square tiles and two rectangular tiles, covered with tin-opacified white slip and polychrome painted. The elaborate design imitates Qajar enamelwork on gold. The design is complex and carefully ordered consisting of a series of pictorial and floral themes vertically aligned from top to bottom:- This square tile partially depicts two winged semi-nude female figures holding bowls of flowers above an escalloped oblong cartouche containing the motif of a lion and dragon interlocked in combat. They are floating on a turquoise ground with spiraling tendrils in black. The lion, facing right, is painted in yellow with his fur shaded in grey. It is biting the dragon's neck. The dragon, also facing right, in shaded and stippled pink, has a long snake-like neck and head. His body is coiled around the back of the lion, above them is a stylised sun motif in the form of the face of a Qajar beauty. The cartouche is supported by another incomplete shaped cartouche. All on a golden yellow ground strewn with stylized flowers. Along the left side is a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of medallions of European buildings alternating with flowerheads, against a deep blue ground. Near the lower left corner is a Persian inscription in black, 'd... sgm', perhaps a signature. Mounted on a wood frame with three other tiles in an ebonized wood and gold lined frame. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions | Near the lower left corner is a Persian inscription in black, 'd... sgm', perhaps a signature. |
Object history | This colourful tile was bought for the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A) in Tehran in 1875, as part of a set of nine. The set was sold by Jean-Baptiste Nicolas, a French diplomat who had been stationed in Iran since 1840, and had built up an extensive survey collection of Iranian tiles. He sold a large consignment to the Museum's agent, Robert Murdoch Smith, ranging from 14th-century lustreware to these early 19th-century tiles, which he dated to the reign of Fath `Ali Shah (d.1834). |
Collection | |
Accession number | 1495:2-1876 |
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Record created | July 19, 2013 |
Record URL |
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