Middle East, Ceramic, Tile. Tile, moulded glazed fritware, depicting a seated musician and a dancer in a garden, raised upper border of birds in foliage, Isfahan or Tehran, Iran, 1870-1885.

Tile, moulded glazed fritware, depicting a seated male figure, playing the setar and holding a wine cup, and a dancing female figure with arms outstretched, both surrounded by overarching trees. Bowls and a wine bottle stand on the ground between them.

This tile was bought together with four others in a single lot, for 3/15 at the art-dealing firm Christie, Manson and Woods (London), on 5 January 1886. Caspar Purdon Clarke made the purchase, and reported the group as follows: "Five modern Persian tiles with figures in relief for 3/15. These are made in Isfahan still in very small quantities and represent almost the only art still practised in Persia untainted with European influences" (memo dated 5 January 1886). The tiles were sold as the property of the shipping firm Hickie, Borman & Co, who informed the museum in advance of their sale at Christie's (V&A archive).

The tile was probably part of a wall dado or frieze. The design was inspired by 17th-century Mughal miniatures of combat scenes popular in 17th-century Safavid Iran.

18-1886