Mainly produced in Tehran, the Qajar capital, continuous friezes of rectangular underglaze-painted tiles, such as this example, were common in nineteenth-century architecture. Here, a young man on horseback is depicted with his hand extended toward Huma, the fabulous bird, the embodiment of health and strength, hovering over his head. Only royalty fell under the shadow of Huma, suggesting that the horseman depicted here is a prince.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Tile with an Image of a Prince on Horseback
Date:second half 19th century
Geography:Made in Iran
Medium:Stonepaste; molded, polychrome painted under transparent glaze
Dimensions:H. 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm) W. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) D. Wt.
Classification:Ceramics-Tiles
Credit Line:Bequest of George White Thorne, 1883
Accession Number:83.1.67
Rectangular Tile with the Figure of a Horseman and a Bird
During the Qajar period in the nineteenth century, tilework was extensively used to decorate both religious and secular buildings, especially in the Qajar capital Tehran and in Isfahan. Different techniques were used, such as mosaic, cuerda seca, and underglaze painting. The most common was probably the cuerda seca, but underglaze painting had an important role because painters could feel more free to create miniaturelike compositions. 'Alï Muhammad Isfahânï was the most famous tile painter of the second half of the nineteenth century. Underglaze-painted tiles were either flat (thus leaving full creative freedom to the painter) or molded in relief. This tile, once part of a frieze for the upper border, is molded and shows a horseman greeting a large bird provided with a long feathered tail. The man is probably a prince, since the animal can be identified as the fabulous bird Humä, whose shadow was cast only over persons of royal status. A complex hilly landscape with buildings completes the background. In the palette of colors, blue dominates the background but white, turquoise, aubergine, mauve, and pale brown are also used extensively. Another tile coming from the same mold but painted in different colors is in the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow. This tile entered the Metropolitan Museum's collection as early as 1883 and was once set in a wall; consequently, its date of production is likely to be not later than the third quarter of the nineteenth century. In the Qajar period tiles were produced mainly in Tehran, although Isfahan and Shiraz were also active centers.
[Carboni and Masuya 1993]
Tile with the Figure of a Horseman and a Bird
Rectangular tiles were commonly made in the nineteenth century Qajar period to decorate the upper borders of interiors in a continuous frieze. Various techniques were used in the production of these tiles, centered mainly in the Qajar capital Tehran. Among them was the underglaze technique of painting, applied on either a flat surface or molded in relief, which facilitated the creation of scenes reminiscent of painting on paper. This, in fact, constitutes one of the distinguishing characteristics of Qajar tileworks.
In this tile, a young man on horseback is depicted against a lush landscape background. He is shown extending his hand toward a large bird hovering over his head. The bird with its long feathered tail represents the Huma, a fabulous bird known from ancient Persian mythology. It was believed that only persons of royal status fell under the shadow of the Huma. Thus the horseman is probably a prince indicating a royal residence as the site from which this tile may have originated.
Sussan Babaie in [Walker et al. 1994]
George White Thorne, New York (until d. 1883; bequeathed to MMA)
Lincroft, NJ. Monmouth Museum. "Curious Creatures and Bizarre Beasts," January 28–April 15, 1979.
New York. Hagop Kevorkian Fund Special Exhibitions Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Persian Tiles," May 4, 1993–January 2, 1994, no. 39.
Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 62.
New York. Leubsdorf Gallery at Hunter College. "Re-Orientations: Islamic Art and the West in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," February 7, 2008–April 26, 2008, no catalogue.
Carboni, Stefano, and Tomoko Masuya. Persian Tiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. no. 39, p. 44, ill. (b/w).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahil, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 62, pp. 168–69, ill. (b/w).
Bates, Ülkü. Re-Orientations: Islamic Art and the West in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. New York, 2008. no. 33, pp. 96–97, ill.
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