Lot Essay
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This pair of tiles form a cartouche recording the foundation of a mosque. The persian inscription reads "I discovered the year of the building of this mosque from the Omniscient One". Using the abjad system, in which each letter is assigned a number, the numerical value of this inscription can be calculated as 1024, giving the year of foundation as AH 1024 (1615-16 AD).
The abjad system was used in both Arabic and Persian inscriptions from the earliest period, and early qur'ans used abjad letters to number verses. In Mughal India it was particularly popular for architectural decoration.
The form of the glaze and decoration of these tiles is similar to a collection of cuerda seca tiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and to tiles still in situ in Multan. However, the date and colour scheme would suggest the Punjab, the block colour forms being found repeatedly on buildings of the mid-Mughal period in Lahore.
This pair of tiles form a cartouche recording the foundation of a mosque. The persian inscription reads "I discovered the year of the building of this mosque from the Omniscient One". Using the abjad system, in which each letter is assigned a number, the numerical value of this inscription can be calculated as 1024, giving the year of foundation as AH 1024 (1615-16 AD).
The abjad system was used in both Arabic and Persian inscriptions from the earliest period, and early qur'ans used abjad letters to number verses. In Mughal India it was particularly popular for architectural decoration.
The form of the glaze and decoration of these tiles is similar to a collection of cuerda seca tiles in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and to tiles still in situ in Multan. However, the date and colour scheme would suggest the Punjab, the block colour forms being found repeatedly on buildings of the mid-Mughal period in Lahore.