{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O83283"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83283/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF6917/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF6917/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AF6917","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O83283/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O83283","accessionNumber":"559:1 to 9-1888","objectType":"Table top","titles":[{"title":"Table top","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"This table top was made in 1887, in the work shop of Ali Muhammad Isfahani in the tilemakers quarters at Shahzadeh Abdul Azim gate, Tehran. An inscription in the centre states that it was commissioned by Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, Director of the Persian Telegraph Department from 1865 to 1888, who also acted as an agent of the South Kensington Museum (as the Victoria and Albert Museum was then known), acquiring objects in Iran for their collection. \n\nThere is an identical table top in the Ceramics and Glass Museum in Tehran. Ceramic table tops have a long Western tradition. They were generally made in the form of single plaques placed on wood supports either of four legs or on a central pedestal. They were particularly fashionable in France; some of the grandest were made at the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and were often given as diplomatic gifts.\n\nThe top is formed of eight shaped panels around a central round medallion. Each illustrate scenes from Firdowsi's epic the <i>Shahnameh,</i> or Book of Kings. The central panel features the duel of the hero Rustam with his enemy Ashkabus, while those arranged around the outside feature other famous characters who are identified by name. The source of the narrative scenes was probably coloured lithograph illustrating mid-19th century editions of the &lt;i&gt;Shahnameh&lt;/i&gt;. The introduction of the lithographic process in Iran in the 1840s enabled the great Iranian classics to be printed relatively cheaply and easily circulated.\n\n","physicalDescription":"Circular panel formed of nine fritware tiles, one central round panel with eight radial tiles. Every tile depicts one of the ancient kings of Iran, each labelled with their names and probably drawing from literary narratives such as the <i>Shahnameh</i> (Book of Kings) by the Persian poet Firdawsi: the central tile shows the duel between the great hero Rustam and his enemy Ashkabus, within a border of roses, grapevine and birds, and the dedication inscription in Persian. The minor borders are filled with half-palmette scrolls in black and white.\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Isfahani, Ali Muhammad","id":"A11422"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Fritware","id":"x29419"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Painted","id":"x30138"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Glazed fritware, underglaze painted in a palette of blue, turquoise, green, yellow and pink, outlined in black","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Tiles","id":"THES48884"}],"styles":[{"text":"qajar","id":"AAT21708"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AF6917"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"132ST","id":"THES287007"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tile panel","id":"x35984"}],[{"text":"tile","id":"AAT10676"}],[{"text":"tile","id":"AAT10676"}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}],[{"text":"tile","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Iran","id":"x30220"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Tehran (city)","id":"x35420"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1887-1888","earliest":"1887-01-01","latest":"1888-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"The date inscribed as 1304 AH/1887-8 AD."}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"130","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"overall dimension in frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"130","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"overall dimension in frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"10","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"overall dimension in frame","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"108","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Weight taken from loan report in 2011"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"Persian","medium":"","method":"","position":"quatrefoil medallion at base","script":"Persian","translation":"Ordered by the honoured gentleman, Colonel Robert Murdoch Smith, of Ali Muhammad, tilemaker of Isfahan, in the house of the glorious Caliphate [i.e. Tehran], 1304 AH [AD 1887].","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Persian; quatrefoil medallion at base of central tile"}],"objectHistory":"Purchased by Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, Director of the Persian Telegraph Department (1865-88), from the tile maker Ali Muhammad Isfahani in Tehran in 1887.\r\n\r\nThe Murdoch Smith Archive Reference File (MA/I/S2325 Part 8) contains a letter sent to Murdoch Smith on September 30, 1887, written by John Joseph Fahie, Superintendent of the Tehran office of the Persian Telegraph Department where he lists the tiles, which he has arranged for Hotz and Co. to dispatch to London. His letter mentions '2 Circular table tops', and there is a pencil sketch of the plan of their layout.","historicalContext":"The table top was included in an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 11 September 2010 to 9 January 2011","briefDescription":"Middle East, Ceramic, Tile; Tile panel, nine tiles forming a circular tabletop, glazed fritware, each depicting scenes from Persian literature, workshop of `Ali Muhammad Isfahani, Tehran, Iran, dated 1304H, 1887-1888","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jennifer M. Scarce, 'Ali Mohammed Isfahani, Tilemaker of Tehran,' <u>Oriental Art</U> N.S. 22  (Autumn 1976), 278-88 (fig. 8)."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Barbara Brend and Charles Melville, <u>Epic of the Persian Kings, the Art of Ferdowsi's <i>Shanameh</i></u>, London, 2010, exhibition catalogue, cat. no. 90, p. 212-3."}],"production":"Commissioned by Robert Murdoch Smith in 1887.\n","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"Robert Murdoch Smith","id":"C2864"}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":["The panels of this table show scenes from Iranian history and legend. The central panel features the duel of the hero Rustam with his enemy Ashkabus, while those arranged around the outside feature other famous characters who are identified by name."],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Nine panels show scenes from Iranian history and legend. The central panel features the duel of the hero Rustam with his enemy Ashkabus, while those arranged around the outside feature other famous characters who are identified by name.\r\n\r\nAli Muhammad Isfahani was a talented late-nineteenth century Iranian craftsman whose work caught the eye of Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, Director of the Persian Telegraph Department from 1865 to 1888 and a major collector of Persian art. This splendid table top was made at his behest in 1887, as recorded in the inscription below the central scene.","date":{"text":"12/03","earliest":"2003-12-01","latest":"2003-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["559:1-1888","559:2-1888","559:3-1888","559:4-1888","559:5-1888","559:6-1888","559:7-1888","559:8-1888","559:9-1888"],"accessionNumberNum":"559","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1888,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","tile [1]","tile [2]","tile [3]","tile [4]","tile [5]","tile [6]","tile [7]","tile [8]","tile [9]"],"assets":["2010EF2847"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-25","recordCreationDate":"2003-08-07","availableToBook":false}}