{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O100737"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O100737/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB3187/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BB3187/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BB3187","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O100737/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O100737","accessionNumber":"1821 to B-1876","objectType":"Tomb tile","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The text within the arch commemorates a great-great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad called Husayn ibn Zayn al-Abidin. The tiles would have been placed horizontally on top of his tomb. The design resembles a mihrab, and shows that the deceased was buried in accordance with Islamic law, facing towards the Ka’bah. The inscription around the niche is the Throne Verse from the Qur'an, which begins, 'God. There is no god but He - the Living, the Eternal.'","physicalDescription":"Tomb marker made in three sections from moulded fritware, decorated under the glaze with cobalt blue and turquoise, and with lustre over the glaze.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded fritware painted with underglaze cobalt blue and turquoise, with lustre over the glaze","categories":[{"text":"Tiles","id":"THES48884"}],"styles":[{"text":"Islamic","id":"x29301"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2006BB3187"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"42 (VA)","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"WW10","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"42 (VA)","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"WW10","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"42 (VA)","id":"THES49806"},"free":"","case":"WW10","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tombstone","id":""}],[{"text":"Tombstone","id":""}],[{"text":"tombstone","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Kashan","id":"x30242"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"probably"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1300","earliest":"1295-01-01","latest":"1304-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"197","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"68","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"158","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Throne Verse (Qur'an 24:35)","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"An inscription records that it was made for the shrine of a great-great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, one Husayn, son of ‘Ali Zayn al-‘Abidin. It would have been placed horizontally on top of his tomb. The design resembles a mihrab, and shows that the deceased was buried in accordance with Islamic law, with his head pointing towards the Ka’bah.\r\n\r\nThroughout the nineteenth century works of art from tombs and other religious buildings were removed and traded on the art market in Iran. Lustre tilework was regarded as of exceptional quality and was particularly attractive to dealers and collectors. As a result, a good deal of it has ended up in museums in Iran and abroad. \r\n\r\nRobert Murdoch Smith bought these tiles for the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in Tehran in 1875. He paid £50 for them, a relatively high price at the time, and this reflected their size and importance. The vendor was a private collector called Jules Richard, who was employed at the court of Nasir al-Din Shah. Richard had been active as a collector for over 30 years and had displayed many of his acquisitions in his Tehran home. The tombs of descendants of the Prophet, and even sites that descendants of the Prophet were thought to have visited, were refurbished in a grand manner after the Mongol occupation of Iran in the 1250s, but they usually had only local significance in later centuries. Their consequent poverty may explain why the tiles were sold off.\r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Tomb marker with three tiles, Iran (probably Kashan), about 1300.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Moya Carey, <i>Persian Art. Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A</i>, London, 2017, p.104."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Jameel Gallery \r\n\r\nTomb-marker with Three Tiles\r\nIran, probably Kashan\r\nAbout 1300\r\n\r\nThe text within the arch commemorates a great-great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad called Husayn ibn Zayn al-Abidin. The tiles would have been placed horizontally on top of his tomb. The inscription around the niche is the Throne Verse from the Qur'an, which begins, 'God. There is no god but He - the Living, the Eternal.'\r\n\r\nMoulded fritware with colour in and lustre over the glaze\r\n\r\nMuseum no. 1821 to B-1876","date":{"text":"Jameel Gallery","earliest":"2006-07-20","latest":null}},{"text":"TOMBSTONE\r\nFritware, moulded, with decoration in lustre painting\r\nPERSIAN (Kashan); about 1300 AD\r\nThe inscriptions on this tombstone consist of the name of the deceased and quotations from the Quran. This panel may either have been placed on the top of a sarcophagus within a tomb, or have been used as a mihrab - a niche set in the wall to mark the direction Muslims must turn in order to face Mecca during prayer. The design of arched niches is derived from that of doorways - a design used for both tombstones and mihrabs to suggest the notion of the 'doorway to heaven'.","date":{"text":"Old label","earliest":null,"latest":"2003-11-30"}}],"partNumbers":["1821B-1876","1821A-1876","1821-1876"],"accessionNumberNum":"1821","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1876,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","tombstone","Tombstone [1]","Tombstone [2]"],"assets":["2019LP8801","2019LP7994","2019LP5030","2019LR4572","2019LT3396","2019LU1352","2019LT7725","2019LT7713","2019LT7696","2019LW1132","2019LV9664"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"2004-06-10","availableToBook":false}}