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Source Description
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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
94963
label
Luster Wall Tile with a Couple
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
94963
contentType
object
title
Luster Wall Tile with a Couple
description
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.
date
1266
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60781243
genreSpecific
Ceramic
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 19.5 x 16 cm (7 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
cul
Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353)
accession
1915.524
Source extras
tec
fritware with luster-painted design
tombstone
Luster Wall Tile with a Couple, 1266. Iran, Kashan, Ilkhanid period (1256-1353). Fritware with luster-painted design; overall: 19.5 x 16 cm (7 11/16 x 6 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust by exchange, 1915.524
collection
Islamic Art
inscriptions
inscription
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.
inscription_translation
Your black curls are a thousand times more numerous than a black African's,
And they are more eager for ambush than a Turk from Khata;
Hang that fleeing ruby-possessing African, (ie. wear your hair down)
for he is full of life and energy (lit. "blood")'
Like a basilisk your curls go about looking for mischief,
Do you know who it is they are planning to kill?
When they saw that the ruby longs for the thief....
..... (illegible, the tile is broken here)
May the world-creater keep this safe,
Wherever it may happen to be.
(Made) in (the month of) Dhi hajeh 664 (=1265-6)
Translation by Dick Davis, Ohio State University 1996
Source: Internal Object File
inscription_remark
Two metaphors are present simultaneously. The first metaphor is that the red lips visible through the tumultuous black curls are like a ruby being stolen by a black African; by saying the African should be hanged for the theft the speaker means that the beloved should wear her hair down, the phrase involving a pun on a word that means both to hand and to leave loose. The second metaphor is that the hair's beauty is like someone waiting in ambush to capture and destroy the speaker.
didYouKnow
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 <em>fritware</em> that approximated the appearance of porcelain.
citations
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 704
citation
<em>Persian Art Before And After the Mongol Conquest.: [Exhibition] April 9-May 17, 1959. the University of Michigan, Museum of Art, Ann Arbor</em>. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Museum of Art, 1959.
page_number
Mentioned: cat. no. 106, p. 39; Reproduced: p. 64
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 212
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 212
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 268
citation
Gertsman, Elina and Barbara H. Rosenwein. <em>The Middle Ages in 50 Objects</em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 130-133; Reproduced: p. 131
creditline
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust by exchange
updatedAt
2026-05-29 05:03:47.684000
sourceId
94963
dept
Islamic Art
coll
Islamic Art
med
fritware with luster-painted design
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
70d0cbbdd239b818