Evoking an architectural mihrab niche, the design of this tile includes columns topped by a multilobed arch. The vigorous calligraphic inscriptions that surround and fill the interior of the "niche" comprise an evocation to the Chahar‑dah Ma'sum (Fourteen Infallibles)—naming the twelve Shi'i Imams and the family of the Prophet Muhammad. The date of this tile places it within the reign of the Ilkhanid ruler Sultan Uljaitu, who was known to have embraced Shi'i Islam.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Tile with Niche Design
Date:dated 712 AH/1312–13 CE
Geography:Attributed to Iran, Sultanabad
Medium:Stonepaste; molded and monochrome glazed
Dimensions:H. 33 1/2 in. (85.1cm) W. 20 in. (50.8 cm) D. 3 in. (7.6 cm) Wt. 74 lbs. (33.6 kg)
Classification:Ceramics-Tiles
Credit Line:Gift of V. Everit Macy, 1925
Object Number:25.93
Turquoise-glazed tile
This large rectangular tile is in the shape of a mihrab whose top ends in a lobed pointed arch surmounted by two slender columns. The tile is molded and entirely filled by an inscription in naskh ("cursive") script that starts at the bottom right, runs all along the border, continues horizontally inside the lobed arch, and comes to an end at the bottom of the space inside the niche. A vegetal decoration fills the space left between the arch and the inscriptional border. The inscription itself is of shi'ite content since it is in praise of the Twelve Imams: "Oh God, pray for Muhammad the Chosen, ‘Alï the Favored, Fatima the Radiant, Hasan the Elect, Husayn the Martyr of Karbalä, [‘Alï] the Most Beautiful of the Believers, al-Bäqir, al-Sädiq, al-Käzim, al-Ridä, al-Taqî, al-Naqï, al-Zakï, and [al-Mahdï] the Standing Proof, the Successor, the Imam, the Master of the Time. Blessings of God upon them all. In the year twelve and seven hundred (A.D. 1312–13)." The date is interesting because it fits in the period of rule of the Ilkhanid Uljaytü (1304–17), who, born as a Christian, embraced Islam first as a shi'ite, then became an adherent of the sunna, only to join the shi'a once more toward the end of his life. This tile is reported to come from Sultänäbäd (modern Arak) but it could also come from a shi'ite building at Sultaniyya, the new capital founded by Uljaytü in 1305–6 on the occasion of the birth of his son Abu Sa’ïd.
Carboni and Masuya 1993]
Inscription: In Arabic in naskh script; on outer band, from lower right corner: Oh God, pray for Muhammad the Chosen, Ali the Favored, Fatima the Radiant, Hasan the Elect, Husayn the Martyr of Karbala, (Ali) the Most Beautiful of the Believers, (Muhammad) al-Baqir, (Ja'far) al-Sadiq, (Musa) al-Kazim, (Ali) al-Riza...
Enclosed in the niche: ...(Muhammad) al-Taqi, (Ali) al-Naqi, (Hasan) Askari, and (al-Mahdi) the Standing Proof, the Successor, the Imam, the Master of the Time. Blessings of God upon them all. In the year twelve and seven hundred (A.D. 1312–13)
V. Everit Macy, New York (until 1925; gifted to MMA)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Hagop Kevorkian Fund Special Exhibitions Gallery. "Persian Tiles," May 4, 1993–January 2, 1994, no. 30.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. p. 135.
Harari, Ralph, and Richard Ettinghausen. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, edited by Arthur Upham Pope. vol. I–VI. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1938. vol. II, p. 1690, no. 159.
Carboni, Stefano, and Tomoko Masuya. Persian Tiles. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. no. 30, p. 35, ill. (b/w).
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