Lot Essay
This tile was originally part of a mihrab tile panel of which it would have constitute the right vertical border. A number of mihrab tile panels are known which vary in size from monumental multiple-tile panels such as that in the Imamzadeh 'Ali bin Ja'far in Qum (328cm. high, dated 1334) to their reduced versions of more humble size such as the present example. However, only fourteen single tile panels have been recorded, five of which are dated between 1269-70 and 1307-08 (Oliver Watson, Persian Lustre Ware, London 1985, ill. 120). Two early 14th century mihrab tile panels in the Victoria and Albert Museum originally conceived as a pair offer a comparable to the present example, only very slightly larger (62cm. high) and displaying a similar decorative scheme. (The Legacy of Genghis Khan, Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2002, cat.124, fig.151).