A GROUP OF FOUR MAMLUK HEXAGONAL POTTERY TILES

The two tiles with fleshy palmettes in this group relate to one discussed by John Carswell, which is in the Cairo museum. The fleshy cusped arabesque formed concentrically around an ovoid centre on hatched ground is very similar to ours (John Carswell, 'Six Tiles' in Richard Ettinghausen (ed.), Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1972, p.102). The tile with central rosette amidst scrolling vine compares with a tile in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv.no.413-1898) attributed to Damascus, circa 1420-50.