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Source Description

Mina’i is a modern collectors’ term for ceramics made in Iran during the late 12th to early 13th centuries. The term mina’i, translates as “enamelled” in Persian, designating the colored glass pigments used to paint detailed figural decoration on vessels or tiles, which were then fixed on the ceramic base by multiple firings. The use of a wide range of colors, including turquoise, red, green, purple, and black, also led these types of ceramics to be called by the Persian term “haft rang,” or “seven colors.”This star-shaped tile depicts two seated figures against a stylized floral and vine background. When the supply of these wares was exceeded by the demand of 19th- and early 20th-century collectors, forgeries, like this one, were produced. Forgeries can be made of entirely new materials or can be created out of fragments from multiple authentic but broken objects. This tile is a pastiche of historic fragments, modern ceramic restorations, and plaster fills.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
35549
label
Tile in the Style of Mina'i Ware
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
35549
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tile in the Style of Mina'i Ware
description
Mina’i is a modern collectors’ term for ceramics made in Iran during the late 12th to early 13th centuries. The term mina’i, translates as “enamelled” in Persian, designating the colored glass pigments used to paint detailed figural decoration on vessels or tiles, which were then fixed on the ceramic base by multiple firings. The use of a wide range of colors, including turquoise, red, green, purple, and black, also led these types of ceramics to be called by the Persian term “haft rang,” or “seven colors.”This star-shaped tile depicts two seated figures against a stylized floral and vine background. When the supply of these wares was exceeded by the demand of 19th- and early 20th-century collectors, forgeries, like this one, were produced. Forgeries can be made of entirely new materials or can be created out of fragments from multiple authentic but broken objects. This tile is a pastiche of historic fragments, modern ceramic restorations, and plaster fills.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1927, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
19th or early 20th century with earlier elements (Seljuq (?))
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
tiles
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
17.9
height
18.5
depth
2
dimensionsRaw
H: 7 1/16 × W: 7 5/16 × D: 13/16 in. (17.9 × 18.5 × 2 cm)
Source extras
med
fritware, white underglaze, black, blue, pink, red, and turquoise overglaze enamel, with traces of gilding
creator_ids
6768
collection_ids
none
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
4172970766e9b3fc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
5cbd82a661656c05
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no