Lot Essay
It is rare to find moulded 14th century star tiles without the inscription border which typifies so many. One comparable blue and white example with slightly different drawing is in the Keir Collection (Ernst Grube, Islamic Pottery of the Eighth to the Fifteenth Century in the Keir Collection, London, 1976, no.200, pp.258-59). That tile also includes the shaded design found here of diagonal hatching running parallel to a string of dots. Similar designs and filler motifs are also found on a tile dated AH 729/1328 AD in the British Museum (Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, London, 1995, pl.50, p.54). A similar pair of tiles sold in these Rooms, 29 April 2003, lot 145.