tile
Tile
ca. 1650 (made)
ca. 1650 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
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 said to have come from the tomb of Madani (Sayyid Muhammad al-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 originally covered with glazed tiles. The gateway was already in ruined condition in 1907 when it was surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India, with relatively few of the tiles in place.
Object details
Category | |
Object type | |
Title | tile (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | cuerda seca glazed earthenware |
Brief description | Architecture, glazed ceramic, possibly Kashmir, ca. 1640-50 |
Physical description | Rectangular earthenware tile, glazed in cuerda seca technique with a section of a larger motif, consisting of flowers in a baluster-shaped vase within a cartouche. Here, the flowers include irises, and are in manganese purple, orange, ivory and turquoise with pale green stems and leaves, on a yellow ground. The vase is orange and patterned with an arabesque in manganese purple and ivory. |
Dimensions |
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Styles | |
Credit line | Purchased from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews Esq. |
Object history | This tile is one of a group 63 acquired from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews in 1923. He had been living in Srinagar and wrote to the museum in 1922 offering to sell his collection before he left that year to return to the UK. All were acquired in Kashmir and were said to have come from the tomb of Madin Saheb (ie the Mughal gateway in front of the 15th century mosque and tomb of Syed Mohammad Madani). Purchased from Mr. Frederick H. Andrews Esq., 12 Queensway, Raishia, Delhi, India. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Museum records (Asia Department registers and/or Central Inventory) as part of a 2023 provenance research project. R.P. 23/2764 |
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 said to have come from the tomb of Madani (Sayyid Muhammad al-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 originally covered with glazed tiles. The gateway was already in ruined condition in 1907 when it was surveyed by the Archaeological Survey of India, with relatively few of the tiles in place. |
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.1284-1923 |
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Record created | June 25, 2009 |
Record URL |
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