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Lot Essay
The interior dado of the Imamzadeh Yahya, a small but exquisite shrine in Veramin in Northern Iran, was once covered in star tiles of this type, alternated with similarly decorated cross tiles. The crisp drawing of the lustre painted decoration makes them amongst the finest to come from any monument in Iran.
Most of these tiles are now in private collections or in museums and have been widely published. The British Museum has a large collection, several of them dated (Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, London, 1995, pl. 19, p. 35). The Victoria and Albert Museum also has some (Arthur Lane, A Guide to the Collection of Tiles, London, 1960, pl.3A and in Oliver Watson, Persian Lustre Ware, London, 1985, pl.K.). Some tiles are also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Stefano Carboni and Tomoko Masuya, Persian Tiles, New York, 1993, pl. 10a-c, p.15). The spectacular mihrab from this shrine is in the late Doris Duke's Hawaii mansion (S. Littlefield, Doris Duke's Shangri La, Honolulu, 2002, p.19).
A panel of five tiles from the Imamzadeh Yahya, previously in the collection of J.W.N Van Achterbergh, sold in Christie’s, Amsterdam, 1 November 2005, lot 81.
Dr Ursula Braun (1927–2024), from whose collection this comes, along with lots 85-87 in the present sale, was a German scholar from Hamburg whose academic work focused on the arts, culture, and political life of the Near and Middle East. After studying languages, history, law, and political science across Europe, she built an international reputation through lectures, research, and cultural exchange, including work with the Goethe-Institut and universities abroad. In 2001, she founded the Dr Ursula Braun Foundation to promote research and dialogue on the cultural, social, and political issues of the Middle East.
Most of these tiles are now in private collections or in museums and have been widely published. The British Museum has a large collection, several of them dated (Venetia Porter, Islamic Tiles, London, 1995, pl. 19, p. 35). The Victoria and Albert Museum also has some (Arthur Lane, A Guide to the Collection of Tiles, London, 1960, pl.3A and in Oliver Watson, Persian Lustre Ware, London, 1985, pl.K.). Some tiles are also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Stefano Carboni and Tomoko Masuya, Persian Tiles, New York, 1993, pl. 10a-c, p.15). The spectacular mihrab from this shrine is in the late Doris Duke's Hawaii mansion (S. Littlefield, Doris Duke's Shangri La, Honolulu, 2002, p.19).
A panel of five tiles from the Imamzadeh Yahya, previously in the collection of J.W.N Van Achterbergh, sold in Christie’s, Amsterdam, 1 November 2005, lot 81.
Dr Ursula Braun (1927–2024), from whose collection this comes, along with lots 85-87 in the present sale, was a German scholar from Hamburg whose academic work focused on the arts, culture, and political life of the Near and Middle East. After studying languages, history, law, and political science across Europe, she built an international reputation through lectures, research, and cultural exchange, including work with the Goethe-Institut and universities abroad. In 2001, she founded the Dr Ursula Braun Foundation to promote research and dialogue on the cultural, social, and political issues of the Middle East.