tile thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

tile

Tile
1640-50 (made)
Place of origin

This Mughal glazed earthenware tile is one of a group acquired in 1923 from Mr Frederick H. Andrews. He had been living in Srinagar as Director of the Technical Institute of Kashmir and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. The tiles are stated to have come from the tomb of Madani near But Kadal in Srinagar, Kashmir. The building dates from the mid-fifteenth century, but a new gateway to the tomb and adjacent mosque was constructed by order of Shah Jahan, probably in about 1640. The gateway was already in ruined condition in 1907 when it was examined by the Archaeological Survey of India, with few tiles still in situ. Their photographs show tiles set into the walls that are closely similar to the panel of eight tiles in the V&A to which this example belongs.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titletile (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Earthenware with cuerda seca decoration
Brief description
Architecture, glazed ceramic, probably Kashmir, ca. 1640-50
Physical description
Square glazed earthenware tile from a larger decorative composition with a yellow ground and a half-drop design of baluster-shaped vases in orange with grey arabesque decoration from which spring bunches of various types of flowers in manganese purple, blues, orange with white highlights. The design may loosely derive from a contemporary Dutch flower engraving.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
  • Depth: 2.4cm
Styles
Credit line
Purchased from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews Esq., 12 Queensway, Raishia, Delhi, India
Object history
This tile is one of a group of 63 acquired in 1923 from Mr Frederick H. Andrews. He had been living in Srinagar as Director of the Technical Institute of Kashmir and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. The tiles are said to have come from the tomb of Madani near But Kadal in Srinagar, Kashmir. The building dates from the mid-fifteenth century, but it was refurbished by a Mughal nobleman during the reign of Shah Jahan. The tiles were possibly made in Lahore.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This Mughal glazed earthenware tile is one of a group acquired in 1923 from Mr Frederick H. Andrews. He had been living in Srinagar as Director of the Technical Institute of Kashmir and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. The tiles are stated to have come from the tomb of Madani near But Kadal in Srinagar, Kashmir. The building dates from the mid-fifteenth century, but a new gateway to the tomb and adjacent mosque was constructed by order of Shah Jahan, probably in about 1640. The gateway was already in ruined condition in 1907 when it was examined by the Archaeological Survey of India, with few tiles still in situ. Their photographs show tiles set into the walls that are closely similar to the panel of eight tiles in the V&A to which this example belongs.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Susan Stronge, ‘Tile Revetments in the Reign of Shah Jahan’, in Ebba Koch in collaboration with Ali Anooshahr, eds, The Mughal Empire from Jahangir to Shah Jahan. Art, Architecture, Politics, Law and Literature, Marg Publications, Mumbai 2019, pp 220-245. See Plate 17, p. 234.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.1290-1923

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 25, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest