Lot Essay
Tile panels like this and the following lot were produced in potteries in the district of Qallaline near the gates of Tunis. They were initially created in response to the change of taste generated by the Ottoman arrival, but rapidly became popular in their own right. Not only were they used to decorate various houses in Tunisia, but they were also exported for use in palaces in Algeria. A very similar tile panel to the present example is in the Musée des Arts africains et océaniens, Paris (L'Islam dans les Collections Nationales, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1977, no.508, p.224).