Luster Wall Tile with a Couple (1266): Art, History and Details

Luster Wall Tile with a Couple (1266) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Luster Wall Tile with a Couple
• Date: 1266
• Culture: Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: fritware with luster-painted design
• Dimensions: Overall: 19.5 x 16 cm (7 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1915.524

A detail from the museum

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.

Collection credit

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• 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.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.