Middle East, Ceramic, Tile; Tile panel composed of 29 star-shaped, square and polygonal tiles, moulded glazed fritware, with central scene depicting a ruler one of the ancient kings of Iran, inscribed with their names, four idealised urban scenes, and floral compositions, workshop of `Ali Muhammad Isfahani, Tehran, Iran, 1888

Square panel of twenty nine interlocking fritware tiles. The complex arrangement is centred on a central eight-pointed star, flanked by four figured tiles, and a pointed square tile at each corner and a half-cruciform tile on each side. This in turn is surrounded by sixteen rectangular border tiles. Each tile is painted in the following thickly applied and thinly painted underglaze colours: deep cobalt blue with shaded washes, turquoise, green, yellow, pink, sepia and black. The central tile which is painted with a scene of male and female characters from the <i>Shahnameh </i> seated in a garden. They wear Sassanian style costume and are identified by their names written in Persian: Sultan Homa, Sultan Ardashir, Sultan Qobad with his heir. The scene is framed by an elaborate border of foliage and guilloche bands. Each of the four figured tiles contains a seated figure reading against a background of flamboyant rose sprays with nightingales perched among them. Other tiles include figures: riders, girls pouring wine, while each corner tile features a landscape. The border tiles form a continuous band of elaborate foliage and clusters and scrolls.

Purchased by Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, then Colonel, from the maker, Ali Muhammad Isfahani, for £4 11 shillings.

The Murdoch Smith Archive Reference Files (MA/I/S2325, Part 8) contain a letter sent to Murdoch Smith on September 30, 1887, written by John Joseph Fahie, Superintendent of the Tehran office of the Persian Telegraph Department where he includes a pencil sketch of the plan of their layout.

In this ensemble the potter has created an ambitious interlocking design. The central, star-shaped tile features a group of royalty from Sasanian (pre-Islamic) Iran sitting around a fountain. The tiles at each point of the star contain pictures of individual figures, while the remaining panels are decorated with architectural or floral motifs.

This panel is a fine example of the diverse cultural influences found in nineteenth-century Iran. The depiction of Sasanian rulers reflects the widespread interest in pre-Islamic history, while the style of painting shows the profound impression made by European art.

This table top was made in 1887 in the work shop of Ali Muhammad Isfahani in the tilemakers quarters at Shahzadeh Abdul Azim gate, Tehran, and was purchased by Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, Director of the Persian Telegraph Department from 1865 to 1888, who was acting as an agent of the South Kensington Museum (as the Victoria and Albert Museum was then known), acquiring objects in Iran for their collection.

560-1888