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Wall tile

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made in Kashan, Iran

Wall tile
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This ceramic wall tile was made in Kashan, Iran between 1261 and 1263. It comes from Veramin in north-western Iran, where it originally formed part of the tile decoration in the mausoleum of Yahya, a local Muslim holy man. The tile would have been combined with other star-and cross-tiles.

The tile is made of a paste composed of a little quantity of white clay, ground quartz and ground clear glass. The tile was fired with a colourless glaze before the decoration was applied in the form of metal pigments. The tile was then fired again at a lower temperature and in a reducing atmosphere. This process resulted in the metallic lustre sheen of the decoration. The tile is decorated with floral ornamentation in the centre and a border of Koranic inscriptions, including Sura 1 Al-Fatiha and Sura 112 al-Ikhlas.

This tile was made in Kashan, which had been a centre famed for its high-quality, ceramic wares since the early 12th century. Tiles were used throughout the Muslim world to decorate buildings. In a religious context, their decoration would be mainly floral or geometric, but in secular buildings figural imagery can sometimes be found.

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