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 |
|
| 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 where he had been 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 (ie Syed 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 in Shah Jahan's time. It was originally decorated with tiles, almost all of which have become detached from the structure. The tiles were probably made locally. |
| 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 |
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
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
