CENTRAL ASIA, 14TH CENTURY

Tiles of this type can be seen at the base of the muqarnas squinches in the Mausoleum of an anonymous woman in the Shah-i Zinda necropolis in Samarkand, circa 1360 (published in Jean Soustiel and Yves Porter, Tombs of Paradise, Paris, 2003, pp.86-87). The deep carving of a design into the ceramic tile, and glazing it in single or multiple colours was a technique that allowed the creation of a surface with the maximum visual impact, even when seen at some distance.

Similar individual tiles are also in museum collections, such as the Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul (inv.no.17506-P.658; Hülya Bilgi, Reunited after Centuries: Works of Art Restored to Turkey by the Sadberk Hanim Museum, 2005, pp.28-29, cat.no.4). Others have sold at auction, see for example two sold Sotheby’s London, 4 October 2011, lot 40 (formerly in the Harvey Plotnick Collection and published Oya Pancaroğlu, Perpetual Glory. Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection, Chicago, 2007, p.152, no.101) and 9 October 2013, lot 30 or, more recently, Bonhams London, 23 May 2023, lot 44.