Name of Object:

Wall tile

Location:

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums

About Burrell Collection, Glasgow Museums, Glasgow

Date of Object:

Hegira 10th–11th century / AD 16th–17th century

Museum Inventory Number:

BC 33.42

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Earthenware, underglaze painted in cobalt-blue, turquoise, black and manganese purple.

Dimensions:

Height 21.5 cm, width 19 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Damascus, Syria.

Description:

A tile which once formed a part of a continuous decorative scheme of cypress trees and vases of flowers. The Cypress tree is rendered with a spiky border and filled-in with a lighter coloured fish-scale pattern; vases with flowers are positioned between the trees. A similar, if not identical scheme of decorative tiles (dating to the AH 10th / AD 16th century), can be seen in the mausoleum of the famous Sufi Saint, Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi (AH 560–637 / AD 1165–1240), located inside the Sultan Salim I Mosque in Damascus. The use of cypress trees is appropriate for such a monument, since the cypress is said to symbolise potential wholeness for, biologically, the tree holds both the masculine and feminine principles within it. It is known as the 'perfect Muslim' because of its submission 'Islam' to the wind: 'God's will'.

This tile once formed part of a continuous decorative scheme of cypresses and flowers. The cypress tree here is rendered with a spiky border and filled in with a lighter-coloured fish-scale pattern. Similar ones still decorate the shrine of the Sufi saint Muhyi al-Din ibn Arabi in Damascus.

How date and origin were established:

Artistic analysis: several examples of this type of Ottoman tile survive, including those still on the walls of the Ibn Arabi Shrine in Damascus.

How Object was obtained:

Part of the collection given to the City of Glasgow by Sir William and Lady Burrell in 1944.

How provenance was established:

Several examples of this type of Ottoman tile survive, including those still on the walls of the Ibn Arabi Shrine in Damascus, Syria.

Selected bibliography:

Porter, V., Islamic Tiles, London, 1995.

Citation of this web page:

Noorah Al-Gailani "Wall tile" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus04;46;en

Prepared by: Noorah Al-GailaniNoorah Al-Gailani

Noorah Al-Gailani is Curator for Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums, Scotland. With a BA in Interior Design from the College of Fine Arts, Baghdad University and three years' experience in design and folk art preservation, she moved to the UK in 1992. On completing her MA in Museum Studies at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in 1994, she worked as Project Officer at the Grange Museum of Community History documenting the presence of Muslim communities in the London Borough of Brent. In 1995 she was Assistant Curator, Ancient Monuments Laboratory, English Heritage, and in 1996 became Curator for John Wesley's House and the Museum of Methodism in London. She co-authored The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations (Stroud: Hawthorn Press, 2002) for non-Muslim children. Since 2003 she has been based at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, working across the city's museums to interpret Islamic art and culture, ancient and modern, through research, exhibitions and educational activities.
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: UK4 59