Tile with a pointed arch from a tomb-marker, Iran (probably Kashan), dated 665 AH/1266 AD.

Tile with lobed arch, containing inscriptions in Arabic, the upper corners filled with moulded plant scrolls. This tile may have formed the upper part of a mihrab, and the niche-shape of its design copies the usual form of mihrabs. Since it is flat, it may have been in a secondary position in the shrine which it originally occupied. The inscription in blue under the arch is a quotation from the Qur'an, which stresses the need for Muslims to believe in the divine revelation.

Throughout the nineteenth century works of art from tombs and other religious buildings were removed and traded on the art market in Iran. Lustre tilework was regarded as of exceptional quality and was particularly attractive to dealers and collectors. As a result, a good deal of it has ended up in museums in Iran and abroad.

Robert Murdoch Smith bought this tile for the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in Tehran in 1888, more than ten years after he had begun such acquisitions. In 1875 he had paid £50 for the three tiles that make up 1821 to B-1876, which was a relatively high price at the time, but for this single tile he paid £75, showing how prices had increased. The vendor was a private collector called Jules Richard, who was employed at the court of Nasir al-Din Shah. Richard had been active as a collector for over 40 years and had displayed many of his acquisitions in his Tehran home. The tombs of descendants of the Prophet, and even sites that descendants of the Prophet were thought to have visited, were refurbished in a grand manner after the Mongol occupation of Iran in the 1250s, but they usually had only local significance in later centuries. Their consequent poverty may explain why the tiles were sold off.

This tile was originally part of a tomb-marker that covered the grave of an important person. The design on such tiles commonly included an arch, as here. The motif recalled the mihrab niche in a mosque that indicated the position of the Ka’bah shrine in Mecca. It indicated that the deceased had been buried in accordance with Islamic law in alignment with the Ka’bah.

The inscription in lustre along the profile of the arch is the first surah (chapter) of the Qur’an, called ‘al-Fatihah’ (‘The Opening’). The text in blue below is from the second surah (verse 285). It begins, ‘The Messenger believes what has been sent down to him from his Lord, as do the faithful. They all believe in God, His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers.’

469-1888