Tile thumbnail 1
Not on display

Tile

Tomb Tile
1710 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Memorial stele with decoration on one side, probably intended to stand against a wall. The shape is an upright rectangle with rounded corners at the top, where a triangular upper section rises to a point. The body is earthenware, with a coat of slip under an amber glaze. The inscriptions and decoration were applied through the slip with a stylus. The main body of the stele is laid out as five horizontal pairs of cartouches, as though to receive five couplets of verse. Instead two couplets from a poem in Persian have been inserted into the first four pairs, with each line split between two cartouches. The name and death date of the deceased is recorded in Arabic at the very end of the fourth line and in the final two cartouches, with the date inserted below and then above the name of the deceased. Above the lines of text is a band of ornament (a diaper pattern), while the pairs of cartouches are divided by a central vertical band that is decorated with a continuous repeat pattern of flowers and leaves, perhaps derived from a Chinese peony scroll. The same pattern fills the border round the stele. The triangular space at the top of the stele is filled with representations of objects that a literate man might have carried on his person. In the centre is a turban on a stool (only recognizable because of its appearance in this position on other tombstones). Arranged around it, from right to left, are three unidentified round objects divided horizontally in two; a one-sided comb; a curved dagger or knife; and a double comb. Dated 1710.

Object details

Object type
TitleTile
Brief description
Ceramic memorial stele, buff-coloured earthenware with inscriptions and decoration incised through slip under a clear amber-coloured glaze, Iran, dated 1710.
Physical description
Memorial stele with decoration on one side, probably intended to stand against a wall. The shape is an upright rectangle with rounded corners at the top, where a triangular upper section rises to a point. The body is earthenware, with a coat of slip under an amber glaze. The inscriptions and decoration were applied through the slip with a stylus. The main body of the stele is laid out as five horizontal pairs of cartouches, as though to receive five couplets of verse. Instead two couplets from a poem in Persian have been inserted into the first four pairs, with each line split between two cartouches. The name and death date of the deceased is recorded in Arabic at the very end of the fourth line and in the final two cartouches, with the date inserted below and then above the name of the deceased. Above the lines of text is a band of ornament (a diaper pattern), while the pairs of cartouches are divided by a central vertical band that is decorated with a continuous repeat pattern of flowers and leaves, perhaps derived from a Chinese peony scroll. The same pattern fills the border round the stele. The triangular space at the top of the stele is filled with representations of objects that a literate man might have carried on his person. In the centre is a turban on a stool (only recognizable because of its appearance in this position on other tombstones). Arranged around it, from right to left, are three unidentified round objects divided horizontally in two; a one-sided comb; a curved dagger or knife; and a double comb. Dated 1710.
Dimensions
  • Height: 32cm
  • Width: 24cm
  • Depth: 2.7cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
درون غبر اگر / آهی کشم از سینه چاکم شود بریان اگر مرغی / نه شیند بر سر خاکم پس از مرگم نسوزد / هیچکس بر جان غمناکم مگر شمعی [...] گاه گاهی / بر سر خاکم وفات المرحوم المغفور / محمد کریم ابن محمد صادق / غرة شهر محرم / سنة ۱۱۲۲ (The poem also occurs on V&A:1822-1876, where it is written more conventionally. The version given here is graphically corrupt. The month Muharram 1122 in the Hijri calendar corresponds to the period 2 to 31 March 1710.)
Translation
If I utter a groan from my tattered breast within the tomb (reading qabr), [It is because] it is afflicted by sorrow if a bird perches (reading nishīnad) at the head of my grave. After I am dead, let no one cause a commotion (reading nashūrad for nasūzad) over my grief-stricken soul, Unless they light (reading nasūzad) a taper from time to time at the head of my grave. The death of the one taken unto [God’s] mercy, he who has received [His] forgiveness, Muhammad Karim ibn Muhammad Sadiq, [occurred] on the first day of the month of Muharram of the year 1122.
Bibliographic references
  • Yui Kanda, Safavid Ceramic Tombstones, M.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 2015, p.56.
  • Yui Kanda, “Kashan Revisited: A Luster-Painted Ceramic Tombstone Inscribed with a Chronogram Poem by Muhtasham Kashani”, Muqarnas Online, 34, no. 1 (2017), p.278, fig.6.
Collection
Accession number
546-1878

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

Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest