Tile Window Grille (Timurid dynasty (1370-1507), 15th century): Artwork and History

Tile Window Grille (Timurid dynasty (1370-1507), 15th century) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Iran.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The production of carved and glazed architectural ceramics continued to develop in western Central Asia under the Timurids. A highly geometric decorative scheme was incorporated into the tile design of both religious and secular monuments in these regions, including this window grille. This monumental example emphasizes its geometric composition while also demonstrating an organic relationship with the structure; the voids in the pattern function as the window openings. A window grille such as this one might have decorated the drum of a domed chamber or the hallway of a prominent building.

Object facts

• Title: Tile Window Grille
• Date: Timurid dynasty (1370-1507), 15th century
• Artist attribution: Iran
• Place of origin: Iran
• Medium: Glazed fritware tiles cut and reassembled as a mosaic
• Dimensions: 156.2 × 128.3 × 4.2 cm (61 1/2 × 50 1/2 × 1 5/8 in.)
• Type: Architectural fragment
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1931.468

Collection credit

Gift of Arthur Upham Pope

View the original

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.