Architecture, earthenware, glazed, India, C16-17

Tile shows the figure presumed to be Layla visiting her lover Majnun in the desert. The emaciated figure of Majnun is only partly shown with his hand extended holding a fruit. The subject is taken from the Persian poet Nizami's poetical romance Layla and Majnun.The tile has a light green ground with clumps of yellow grass and the seated figure of Layla dressed in yellow and blue. Majnun's emaciated arm offering a black fruit and his leg are painted in grey.

The Reverend Greville John Chester (1830-1892), born in Denton, Norfolk, studied at Oxford and became an ordained clergyman before sickness forced him to retire in 1865. For his ailing health, he was encouraged to travel to Egypt, making his first visit that year; he subsequently travelled there almost every year until his death, alongside journeys elsewhere across the Mediterranean and Near East. Each year, Chester bought items en masse, to sell or donate to British institutions upon returning. His acquisitions form a considerable backbone of the early holdings at the V&A, British Museum, Ashmolean and Fitzwilliam. His contributions to the Victoria and Albert Museum incorporate both ancient and Islamic artefacts, predominantly but not exclusively purchased in Egypt; the most significant acquisitions include several hundred fragments of Late Antique textiles from Akhmim, given to the museum between 1887 and 1892. Chester was widely regarded as having a keen eye for acquisitions, and cultivated close friendships with several prominent Egyptologists. He was also notable for recording the provenance of many ancient items he purchased, an unusual practice for the time.

941-1873