Fragmentary Star Tile with Lovers

37 Fragmentary star tile with lovers Iran, Ilkhanid period, 13th–14th century Fritware painted with blue (cobalt) and luster (copper and silver) over white lead alkali glaze opacified with tin 23.2 cm (9 1/8 in.) diagonally, point to point. 2002.50.125 Published: Sotheby Parke Bernet 1975, lot 122; Watson 1985, 146; McWilliams 2004, 5, 11, fig. 7. This fragmentary tile, reassembled from four pieces, depicts a narrative scene closely related to those in contemporary and later manuscript paintings.[1] Through an archway, a couple is shown in bed under a patterned cover. A tall candle in a plaited metal candlestick illuminates the interior of the room, and a similarly ornamented ewer appears further to the right. The partially visible bow and arrows likely belong to the man and indicate his princely activities. The fish at the bottom of the scene and the flowers sprouting above the couple create a dreamlike ambience. A figure, likely a servant, stands at left, perhaps outside the room. Bordering the scene, a Persian inscription, reserved in white on a blue ground, is partially legible. Starting at the break on the left, it reads, . . . wings were broken. . . . from the prince, felicity came to me. Even if fate is not auspicious, give in to your destiny. (. . . shikasta shud par u bāl. . . . zi shāhzāda shudam saʿd. Agar zamāna nasāzad tu bā zamāna bisā[z].)[2] Eight-pointed star tiles like this one were combined with other tiles of cruciform shape to create shimmering revetments for palaces and religious buildings.[3] Although figural tiles were used in both secular and religious contexts,[4] the intimate nature of the scene depicted here would have made this tile more appropriate for a palace interior. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım [1] See, in particular, the painting Gulnar Comes to Ardashir’s Pillow, from the “Great Mongol” Shāhnāma, Iran (probably Tabriz), 1330s, in which architectural details, furnishings, and the couple’s position are markedly similar to those on this tile. The painting is reproduced in Grabar and Blair 1980, 137. [2] We are grateful to Wheeler M. Thackston for this reading and transliteration. [3] For the full effect, see Watson 1985, 133, fig. 110; 144, fig. 121; and fig. M. [4] Ibid, 154–55.