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Tiles Across Time


Islamic Tiles


Moorish Architecture  -  Andalusia at its Zenith

710-912                           The Islamic Conquest
                                          The Emirate of the Umayyad Family

                             Architecture of the 8th and 9th Centuries
                                         The Foundation of the Great Mosque at Cordova
                                         The Extension of the Friday Mosque
                                         Seville and Merida
                                         Bobastro
                                         Vitality and Richness of Form

912-1031                         A Golden Age: The Caliphate
                                         Andalusia at its Zenith

                            Architecture of the 10th Century
                                        Madinat al-Zahra
                                        The Great Mosque of Cordova
                                        Smaller Mosques
                                        The Babita de Guardamar
                                        Fortresses and Bridges
                                        Towns: the Example of Vascos
                                        Ornamentation

1031-1091                      The Age of the Petty Kings

                         Architecture of the Taifa Period
                                      Fortresses and Castles
                                      The Aljaferia in Saragossa
                                      Balaguer
                                      Other Palaces and Works of Art

1091-1248                    The Period of Berber Domination

                         Almoravid and Almohad Architecture
                                      Almoravid Remains in North Africa and Andalusia
                                      Murcia and Monteagudo
                                      Crafts
                                      New Directions in Religion and in Aesthetics
                                      Seville, the Capital, and her Friday Mosque
                                      Other Almohad Mosques in the South-Western Province
                                      Palaces and Fortresses
                                      Murcia Province: Cieza
                                      Influences on the Christian North

1237-1492                The Rule of the Nasrids

                        Architectures of the Nasrids 

                                   The Alhambra: from Fortress to Palace City
                                   Principal Architectural Themes of the Alhambra
                                   Nasrid Architectural in the City and
                                  Sultanate of Granada
​                                  Nasrid Architectural Ornamentation



Islamic Geometric Design and Architectural Details ​

Picture
Title: East porch of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, dating from the time of al-Mansur, late 8th century. Geometric composition of windows and Islamic Arches. Order No.: A1-6045 Location: Cordoba, Spain (2017)
Picture
David Clendenning at the Great Mosque, Cordoba, 2017.

Picture
Title: Top of the East porch of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, dating from the time of al-Mansur, late 8th century. Geometric composition of windows and Islamic Arches. Order No.: A1-6047 Location: Cordoba, Spain (2017)

Picture
Title: East porch of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, dating from the time of al-Mansur, late 8th century. Geometric composition of windows and Islamic Arches. Order No.: A1-5955 Location: Cordoba, Spain (2017)
Picture
Title: Great Mosque, detail of a side-porch dating from the time of al-Hakam 11, 10th century. Order No.: A1-5947. Location: Cordoba, Spain.

Picture
Title: Early Islamic Horseshoe Arches, Madinat al-Zahra (Medina Azzara), First Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba, 10th century. Order No.: A1-6223 Location: near Cordoba, Spain
Picture
Title: Early Islamic Horseshoe Arches, Madinat al-Zahra (Medina Azzara), First Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba, 10th century. Order No.: A1-6225 Location: near Cordoba, Spain

Madinat al-Zahra is located some five Kilometres to the north-west of Cordova. The job of site foreman, so to speak, was entrusted to the Crown Prince, the later Caliph al-Hakam 11. 

Picture
Title: Exterior Wall of Islamic decorative design. Order No.: A1-6061. Location: Cordoba Mosque.


Picture
Title: Geometric Decorative Tile, 14th century. Order No.: A1-4918.
Prohibited by religious strictures from creating representational art, Muslim artists relied heavily on abstract patterns. Geometry, in particular, provided craftsmen with a fertile source of designs. 

In the tile mosaic shown here, the artist started with the 12-pointed star in the centre of the panel, which is about five inches in diameter and is made of white tile inlaid with on continuous, delicately carved piece of black tile; it is regarded at the finest example of inlaid ceramic art in the Alhambra. 

By extending patterns from the star, the artist was able to generate the rest of his design, and by a careful arrangement of straight lines, he created figures that give the brilliant illustration of star shapes, circles and curves.

LEFT: Detail of a glazed ceramic geometric composition from the Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Mudejar Style Design in Andalusia Spain

Picture
_DSC5966 Title: Mudejar Architecture design in Cordoba Jewish Synagogue, c. 1315. Order No.: A1-5966. Location: Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain.

Cordoba Synagogue, c. 1315, is an historic edifice in the Jewish Quarter and it was decorated according to the best Mudejar tradition. It is the only synagogue in Cordoba to escape destruction during the years of persecution after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. Although it now longer functions as a Jewish house of worship, it is open to the public. 

Picture
Title: Iranian Wall Tile, 14th century. RN: A1-3308.
A Timurid tile panel (14th to 15th century) from Central Asia. The geometric composition has been skilfully designed, combining different sixfold patterns so that its design elements, such as the stars and hexagons, work together with the survey components in the tile panel. 

All images taken in museums (marked by "RN") are not for sale and are for educational purposes only


Architectural Wall Tiles

In the Middle East, tilework was originally developed as a decorative cladding for brick structures. By 1160, it was in use in Turkey, where tiles were later applied to stone buildings using mortar. The most accomplished type had colourful design painted on a brilliant white background. These were produced in the town of Iznik from about 1550.

Wall Tiles from Turkey - Iznik style


Picture
Title: Iznik Calligraphy. RN: A1-0818. Location: Peabody Museum, PA
Picture
Title: Iznik Tiles, Fritware, underglaze. RN: A1-7093.

Picture
Iznik Tiles, Ottoman.. Order No.: A1-0857. Location: Rustem Pasa Cami, Istanbul
Picture
Title: Iznik Tiles, Ottoman. Order No.: A1-0839. Location: Rustem Pasa Cami, Istanbul.

Iznik Tiles, Ottoman,  Rusrem Pasa Cami (Mosque), 16th C, decorated famous floral and geometric tile designs, Istanbul

Picture
Title: Ottoman Tulip Tiles, Order No.: A1-0853. Country: Turkey.

Picture
Title Iznik Tiles, Rose and Floral motifs. Order No.: A1-7108. Location: Turkey

Picture
Title: Iznik Wall Tiles, Niche. Order No.: A1-0821. Location: Rustem Pasa Cemi, Istanbul.
Picture
Title: Religious Iznik Tile. Depictions of sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina, 17th century. RN: A1-7098.

An illustrative book was produced for the exhibition on ​The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 25 January - 17 May 1987.

The reign of Sultan Suleyman 1 (1520-1566) marked the zenith of Ottoman political and economic power as well as the golden age of Turkish art and architecture. Suleyman was the tenth ruler of the house of Osman, the sultan who founded the Ottoman dynasty in northwestern Anatolia around 1300. Osman's descendants expanded into western Asia, eastern Europe, and northern Africa and established a powerful state. During his  forty-six-year reign Suleyman double the territories of his realm, extending its boundaries from Iran to Austria.
Picture
Book Cover: The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, 1987.
Picture
Ottoman Calligraphy

PictureTitle: Iznik Tile, Topkapi, 16th century. Order No.: A1-0981
On the Tulip

The tulip is an exceptional flower that has accompanied the Turks during their migrations from Central Asia through to Anatolia, whence it has spread to Europe. This survivor adapts to every imaginable condition; it trives on arid rocky hillsides, mountains and meadows. Its distinctive, graceful lines make it perfectly suited to design and pattern creation, be it bud or full bloom. In the 16th century Ottoman art world, roses and tulips came to symbolize beauty and love. Wild tulips were domesticated into countless new cultivars, the vanguard of the tall and slender perfection that is the Ottoman 'Istanbul' tulip emerged, and names were conferred upon these new varieties.


Picture
Title: Iznik Wall Tiles, 16th century. Order No.: A1-1012. Location: Topkapi, Istanbul
Picture
Title: Bronze Door and Tiles, Order No.: A1-1018, Country: Turkey

Picture
Title: Fountain Pavilion with Tiles, near the Hagia Sophia. Order No.: A1-0666. Location: Entrance to Topkapi, Istanbul.
Picture
Title: Iznik Tiles, 16th C. Order No.: A1-0818. Location: Rustem Pasa Cami, Islanbul, 2009.

Picture
Title: Panel of Wall Tiles, Iznik, late period, 1660-70. RN: A1-3828 Location: V&A Museum, London
Picture
Title: Ottoman Iznik Wall Tiles, Order No.: A1-0823, Country: Rustem Pasa Cami, Istanbul, Turkey

Picture
David Clendenning at Ancient city of Ephesus, Turkey, 1989.
Picture
Title: Courtyard of Suleymaniye Mosque. Order No.: A1-0724. Location: Istanbul

Persian - Iranian Tiles
Picture
Persian Calligraphy

Picture
Title: Tile Mosaic Panels, Late 1400, Isfahan, Safavid dynasty. Order No.: RN-9888. Location: Philadelphia Museum
Picture
Title: Tiled Paradise, Aqqoyunlu period, 1480-81. Order No.: A1-1514. Location: Isfahan, Iran. National Portrait Gallery.

Picture
Title:Kashan tile, Persian, 14thC. RN: A1-0817. Location: Peabody Musuem.

Picture
Title: Persian Wall Tile, c 1910. Order No.: A1-1055. Location: Hearst Castle, CA
Picture
Title: Gathering in Garden, Safavid Period, 1501-1722, 17th century. Order No.: A1-1925. Location: Isfahan, Iran.

Picture
Title: Stag in Forest. Qajar Period, 1779-1925. 19th century. Stonepaste, polychrome painted under a transparent glaze. Order No.: A1-1920. Location: Iran.



Syria - Damascus Tiles

The Ottoman Empire extended into Syria, where its artistic expressions were adopted. Syrian potters could not achieve the brilliant red of Iznik, but their designs were often more robust. 

Picture
Title: Damascus Tile,Early 18th century. Order No.: A1-3082. Location: Syria
Picture
Title: Frieze of 6 Damascus Tiles, Early 18th Century. Order No.: A1-3023. Location: Syria

Picture
Title:Damascus Tile, 16th C. (acquired 1914-18) Order No.: A1-5533. Location: Sledmere House, North Yorkshire

Tunis - North Africa

Picture
Title: Tunisian Tiles, Late 19th century, Qallaline. Order No.: RN-9886. Location: Philadephia Musuem

All images taken in museums (marked by "RN") are not for sale and are for educational purposes only

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