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 rectangular corner tile depicts a cornucopia of roses and other flowers above a peacock's tail-feathers against a golden-yellow ground with a black edge beside a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of European buildings in a landscape medallion alternating with medallions of flowerheads on a deep blue ground.
Mounted on a wood frame with three other tiles in an ebonized wood and gold lined frame.
This rectangular corner tile depicts a cornucopia of roses and other flowers above a peacock's tail-feathers against a golden-yellow ground with a black edge beside a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of European buildings in a landscape medallion alternating with medallions of flowerheads on a deep blue ground.
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 showing a peacock's tail and a bird in a rose bouquets, against yellow background, with 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 rectangular corner tile depicts a cornucopia of roses and other flowers above a peacock's tail-feathers against a golden-yellow ground with a black edge beside a narrow border pattern with a continuous repeat of European buildings in a landscape medallion alternating with medallions of flowerheads on a deep blue ground. Mounted on a wood frame with three other tiles in an ebonized wood and gold lined frame. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| 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 | 1495:6-1876 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | July 19, 2013 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
