Name of Object:

Tile panel

Location:

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

National Museums of Scotland (NMS)

About National Museums of Scotland (NMS), Edinburgh

Original Owner:

Fuad Pasha

Date of Object:

Hegira, late 12th century / AD mid-18th century

Museum Inventory Number:

A. 1892.27

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Underglazed earthenware.

Dimensions:

Length 174 cm, width 61 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Probably made at the Tekfur Saray factory in Istanbul, Turkey. The panel is said to have come from Istanbul and the Palace of Fuad Pasha (1815–69) who was an eminent Turkish statesman.

Description:

An elongated tile panel that consists of 21 square and rectangular tiles. The design comprises a central field and a border; the central composition a tall and slender arch, the cusped apex highlighted with a fine red line. Within the arch there is a lattice of blue tiger-stripe motifs that contain individual upright and inverted chintamani (a design characterised by tiger-stripes and three balls) these, executed in blue and red, are surrounded by sinuous green with red detailing. The border has a continuous scroll of palmette leaves and so-called saz leaves that alternate with small flowers set against a deep blue background. The palmette leaves have orange or turquoise centres; those with orange centres have further detailing in turquoise, while those with turquoise centres have further detailing in orange. The heart of the saz leaves contain small floral stems in orange and green.
The origin and meaning of the chintamani motif are still unclear, but it has been suggested that the triple dot motif may have had apotropaic associations among Turkic peoples, warding off evil by reflecting it back at the perpetrator, while the tiger-stripes seem to recall the tiger-skin worn by the Iranian superhero Rustam.

This tile panel is assumed to be the product of the Tekfur Saray factory near Eyüp on the Golden Horn, which was set up with the help of a group of potters from Iznik after the production centre there had declined by the end of the AH 11th century / AD 17th century.

How date and origin were established:

Technical and stylistic details place this tile panel within the context of Iznik 'revival wares' made at Tekfur Saray factory in Istanbul from the late 11th / late 17th century onwards.

How Object was obtained:

Purchased in 1892.

How provenance was established:

The panel is said to have come from the Palace of Fuad Pasha (1815–69) in Istanbul and was probably made in the Tekfur Saray factory which was set up with the help of a group of potters from Iznik following the decline of the industry at the end of the AH 11th / AD 17th century.

Selected bibliography:

Scarce, J., Domestic Culture in the Middle East: An Exploration of the Household Interior, Edinburgh, 1996, p.40 (object illustrated).

Citation of this web page:

Ulrike Al-Khamis "Tile panel" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus03;38;en

Prepared by: Ulrike Al-KhamisUlrike Al-Khamis

Ulrike Al-Khamis is Principal Curator for the Middle East and South Asia at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. She began her academic career in Germany before completing her BA (1st class Hons) in Islamic Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 1987. The same year she moved to Edinburgh, where she completed her Ph.D. thesis on “Early Islamic Bronze and Brass Ewers from the 7th to the 13th Century AD” in 1994. From 1994 to 1999 she worked as Curator of Muslim Art and Culture for Glasgow Museums and, in 1997, was one of the main instigators of the first ever Scottish Festival of Muslim Culture, SALAAM. Since 1999 she has been based at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh, where she has curated several exhibitions and continues to publish aspects of the collections. In addition to her museum work she has contributed regularly to the teaching of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Edinburgh.
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: UK3 38