Art Institute of Chicago

Tile Fragment with Figure in a Niche

Iran

Date

Ilkhanid dynasty (1256–1353), late 13th/early 14th century

Medium

Lusterware, fritware molded and painted in luster and blue over an opaque white glaze

Culture

Persia

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This tile is one of the few instances where all four major types of Islamic ornamentation are used in a single object. Vegetal scrolls are depicted in various shapes and sizes in the background of the piece; calligraphy runs across the central arch; geometric patterning is present on the garment worn by the central figure; and figural imagery related to humans and animals is found both in the person seated beneath the arch and band of running animals at the base of the tile. Also notable are the features of the central figure: a round face with slanted eyes, meant to represent a Turco-Mongol, or Central Asian, face.

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