Tile
1307-8 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This tile is from the tomb of Shaykh Abd al-Samad at Natanz in central Iran. It originally formed part of a frieze with a quotation from the Qur'an. The decoration includes nine small birds. Their presence was later seen as inappropriate, and their heads were chipped away to render them inanimate.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Fritware with opaque cobalt-blue glaze and lustre-painted decoration |
| Brief description | Frieze tile with inscription and nine small birds, Iran (probably Kashan), 1307-8. |
| Physical description | Fritware tile with cobalt and lustre decoration forming part of an inscription and originally including several birds, the heads of which were later defaced. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | [مذکو]راً إنّا خلقنا ا[لإنسن]
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| Gallery label |
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| Historical context | From the shrine of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad at Natanz. |
| Production | From the shrine of Shaykh 'Abd al-Samad at Natanz; another tile from the same frieze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (no. 12.44) is dated 707 in the Muslim calendar, equivalent to 1307-8. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This tile is from the tomb of Shaykh Abd al-Samad at Natanz in central Iran. It originally formed part of a frieze with a quotation from the Qur'an. The decoration includes nine small birds. Their presence was later seen as inappropriate, and their heads were chipped away to render them inanimate. |
| Bibliographic reference | Watson, Oliver. Persian Lustre Ware. London: Faber and Faber, 1985. ISBN 0-571-13235-9. Plate 116, pp. 122, 140, 187, 195
Blair, Sheila. The Ilkhanid Shrine Complex at Natanz, Iran. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1986. ISBN 0-932885-02-0. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1485-1876 |
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| Record created | November 19, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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