Loading
Luster Wall Tile with a Couple
1266
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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.
Show lessRead more
Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
Details
- Title: Luster Wall Tile with a Couple
- Date Created: 1266
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 19.5 x 16 cm (7 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
- Provenance: (Dikran G. Kelekian [1867-1951], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Ceramic
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1915.524
- Medium: fritware with luster-painted design
- Inscriptions: 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.
- Department: Islamic Art
- Culture: Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period, 13th century
- Credit Line: Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust by exchange
- Collection: Islamic Art
- Accession Number: 1915.524
Get the app
Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more
