Tile with Image of Phoenix

late 13th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 455

After the Mongol conquest of Persia in the thirteenth century, an extensive trade network opened from China to the Mediterranean, allowing goods to move more freely than in prior centuries. As the objects in this case demonstrate, Ilkhanid period artists readily adopted imagery from Chinese iconography, including lotus flowers, deer, dragons and other mythical creatures. This image of a soaring phoenix with crested head and elaborate trailing plumage exemplifies the adaptation of Chinese imagery by Persian artists.

Artwork Details

Title: Tile with Image of Phoenix
Date: late 13th century
Geography: From Iran, probably Takht-i Sulaymän
Medium: Stonepaste; modeled, underglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white ground
Dimensions: H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm)
W. 14 1/4 inl (36.2 cm)
Classification: Ceramics-Tiles
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1912
Object Number: 12.49.4
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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Pierced Jug with Harpies and Sphinxes, Stonepaste; openwork, underglaze-painted, glazed in transparent turquoise — Pierced Jug with Harpies and Sphinxes
dated 612 AH/1215–16 CE

Luster Bowl with Winged Horse, Stonepaste; luster-painted on opaque monochrome glaze — Luster Bowl with Winged Horse
late 12th century

Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience, Stonepaste; glazed (opaque monochrome), in-glaze- and overglaze-painted, gilded — Turquoise Bowl with Lute Player and Audience
late 12th–early 13th century

Mihrab (Prayer Niche), Mosaic of polychrome-glazed cut tiles on stonepaste body; set into mortar — Mihrab (Prayer Niche)
dated 755 AH/1354–55 CE

Tile from a Frieze, Stonepaste; inglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white glaze, modeled — Tile from a Frieze
early 14th century

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