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https://piction.clevelandart.org/cma/ump.di?e=569E77294887D17F84450BE12956CD18AF12E640F88DB88D3768B15FD4552640&s=24247294&se=450972956&v=0&f=1915.524_o2.jpg

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Aug 3, 2012

Luster Wall Tile with a Couple

1266

Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period

(1256-1353)

Fritware with luster-painted design

Overall: 19.5 x 16 cm (7 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust by exchange 1915.524

Location

not on view

Did you know?

Where fine clay was unavailable, potters made a paste out of ground quartz, clay, and glass. When fired, the paste created a compact white material called fritware that approximated the appearance of porcelain.

Description

The design of this tile-a couple with a wine beaker surrounded by verses of Iranian love poetry-indicates that it was originally part of wall decoration and would have alternated with cross-shaped tiles.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Top reading R to L: (1) Rubāʿī: TEXT: zulfat ki hizār zangī afzūn dārad——————bar turk-i khitā ʿazm-i shabīkhūn dārad v'ān zangī laʿl duzd-i mutvāri-rā——————āvikht-i dār ki basi khūn dārad. TRANSLATION: Your tresses, which possess over a thousand Zangis (Zanjis, black slave-soldiers, i.e. more than a thousand strands of hair) Are bent on a surprise night time charge against the Cathay Turks (handsome slave-soldier boys redolent of musk) And (as for) that ruby stealing (disheveled) Zangi in hiding Have him hanged for he has plenty of blood on his hands. (2) Rubāʿī: these verses start immediately after the last verses, on the left hand side going down: TEXT: zulfat ki chu afʿī pay-i sharr mi-gardad———dāni pas-i pushtat bi-chi bar migardad chun dīd ki laʿl to [zumurrud bigrift————vahshī shud u bar kuh u kamar migardad.] TRANSLATION: Your hair (tresses), which viper-like is bent on mischief, do you know why it returns behind your back? When it saw that your ruby (lips) has (now) an emerald (down appearing above the lips), it became wild (lost all senses) and wanders on the mountain side.

Inscription Translation

Your black curls are a thousand times more numerous than a black African's, And they are more eager for ambush than a Turk from Khata; Hang that fleeing ruby-possessing African, (ie. wear your hair down) for he is full of life and energy (lit. "blood")' Like a basilisk your curls go about looking for mischief, Do you know who it is they are planning to kill? When they saw that the ruby longs for the thief.... ..... (illegible, the tile is broken here) May the world-creater keep this safe, Wherever it may happen to be. (Made) in (the month of) Dhi hajeh 664 (=1265-6) Translation by Dick Davis, Ohio State University 1996 Source: Internal Object File

Inscription Remark

Two metaphors are present simultaneously. The first metaphor is that the red lips visible through the tumultuous black curls are like a ruby being stolen by a black African; by saying the African should be hanged for the theft the speaker means that the beloved should wear her hair down, the phrase involving a pun on a word that means both to hand and to leave loose. The second metaphor is that the hair's beauty is like someone waiting in ambush to capture and destroy the speaker.

Provenance

?–1915

(Dikran G. Kelekian [1867–1951], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1915–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 704 archive.org

Persian Art Before And After the Mongol Conquest.: [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959. the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1959. Mentioned: cat. no. 106, p. 39; Reproduced: p. 64

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 212 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 212 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 268 archive.org

Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Mentioned: pp. 130-133; Reproduced: p. 131

Exhibition history

Persian Art Before and After the Mongol Conquest. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI (organizer) (April 9-May 17, 1959).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Luster Wall Tile with a Couple|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.524|year=1266|access-date=26 March 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Luster Wall Tile with a Couple

Luster Wall Tile with a Couple

Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period

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Description

Inscription

Inscription Translation

Inscription Remark

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