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Tile from a Mihrab

dated 722 AH/1322–23 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 450
This tile once formed part of a mihrab, or niche, facing Mecca, toward which prayer is directed in mosques. The inscription at its top includes a Qur'anic reference to the mihrab’s function, and provides the date of the tile’s manufacture in the fourteenth century. This surrounds the modeled vine and tendril motif executed with touches of black and turquoise. We must imagine that the interior walls of the building containing this mihrab were once covered in similar tiles, as was common during the Ilkhanid period in Iran.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tile from a Mihrab
  • Date: dated 722 AH/1322–23 CE
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran
  • Medium: Stonepaste; modeled, painted under transparent glaze
  • Dimensions: H. 27 3/8 in. (69.5 cm)
    W. 26 in. (66 cm)
    Wt. 74 lbs. (33.6 kg)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Tiles
  • Credit Line: Gift of William Mandel, 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.345
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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