Name of Object:

Panel of tiles

Location:

Damascus, Syria

Holding Museum:

National Museum of Damascus

About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus

Original Owner:

Probably a governor of Damascus during the reign of Sultan Murad III (r. AH 981–1003 / AD 1574–95)

Date of Object:

Hegira 998 / AD 1590

Museum Inventory Number:

ع ر 168

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Polychrome-painted ceramic with a transparent glaze over.

Dimensions:

Height 85 cm, width 1.75 m

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Mosque of Mustafa Lala Pasha, Damascus, Syria.

Description:

A comprehensive group of ceramic tile panels in the form of a pointed arch. Apple-green is used for the background of the peripheral panels while a dark-blue dominates the central panels. Both the floral ornamentation and the calligraphic inscriptions are coloured white and carefully stencilled in black. The technique used to apply the colours is underglaze painting.
These fine Damascene Ottoman tiles were found in the tomb chamber of the Mustafa Lala Pasha mosque, located above the window that overlooks the cemetery. The three lines of thuluth script translate as follows:
(1) Protector
(2) May the mercy of the Lord be upon him in every moment
(3) Everything is mortal except for the countenance of God, He has the power of rule, to Him you will all return.
The year AH 998 / AD 1590 was written in numerals in two locations between these lines. The spaces surrounding the inscription, as well as the space between the words, are filled with finely executed stylised vegetal motifs. The depiction of multiple flower varieties swaying in the breeze recalls the extent to which Chinese styles influenced the repertoire of Islamic ceramics. The choice of thuluth script for the calligraphy is a favoured ornamental script in tile work because of its monumental letter proportions and its curvaceous painterly quality.

Ottoman style underglaze painted tiles made in Damascus display the painterly quality of thuluth calligraphy on a background of spiralling floral motifs.

How date and origin were established:

The inscription on the panel includes the date of its completion, 998 (1590).

How Object was obtained:

The tile panels entered the Museum in 1919 when the mosque in which these tiles were originally located was demolished to make room for the Suq al-Hal, the Cardamom Market.

How provenance was established:

The underglaze technique is consistent with local Syrian techniques of ceramics manufacture and distinctive from the Ottoman overglaze method. During this period, Damascus was a flourishing tile-production centre. It is therefore likely that the tiles were produced in Damascus.

Selected bibliography:

Abu al-Faraj al-Ush, M., A Concise Guide to the National Museum of Damascus, Damascus, 1969, pp.234–5.
Cluzan, S. et al (eds), Syrie: Mémoire et Civilisation, Paris, 1994, p.460.
Porter, V., Islamic Tiles, London, 1995.
Soustiel, J., and Kiefer, C., La céramique islamique, Fribourg, 1985.

Citation of this web page:

Mona al-Moadin "Panel of tiles" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;39;en

Prepared by: Mona Al-Moadin
Translation by: Hilary Kalmbach (from the Arabic)
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: SY 62