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painting of a woman sitting on a wheel with a blue sky in the backgrounda yellow and black tile with a bird on ita painting of a woman in a yellow dressa picture of a decorative tile with a wheel on ita picture of a decorative tile with a wheel on ita close up of a piece of paper sitting on top of a tablea crack in the concrete on the tablea piece of paper that has been placed on a tablea stone block sitting on top of a black table
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127 - Spinning-wheel tile Safavid Iran, Isfahan, late 17th century…
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
Spinning-wheel tile Safavid Iran, Isfahan, late 17th century A siliceous ceramic wall tile decorated with coloured glazes and black lines (formerly known as ‘cuerda-seca’), depicting a kneeling woman holding a spinning wheel and spinning in front of a tent. An old label, originally affixed to the bottom left of the tile, reading: ‘[ti]le from [I]sphahan Persia’, now affixed to the reverse. (Condition: one restored crack, chips to the edges). Dimensions: 24 x 24 cm Provenance: a private collection since the early 20th century, descended from the Copland Griffiths family. This tile belongs to a group of tiles considered to be among the finest of the Safavid period, and which appear to have been produced by a single artist, known as the ‘Master of the Faces’ or ‘Master of Figures’ (Sophie Makariou, 3 Capitals of Islamic Art. Masterpieces from the Louvre Collection, Sakip Sabanci Müzesi, Istanbul, 2008, cat. 119, p. 248). They are characterised in particular by very sharp black lines delineating the areas of colour and by the design of the figures’ mouths. Two tiles depicting exactly the same scene, one of which is a mirror image of the other, are held at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (inv. I. 3925 and I. 7691), both measuring 24 cm on each side, the same size as the one presented here. They differ only in their use of colour. Several tiles with the same type of decoration are held at the Louvre, Paris, on loan from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. One of these tiles depicts two women, one of whom is carrying two vases on her back (inv. AD 15120), whilst the other is a panel depicting an Armenian scene, composed of eight tiles, showing a procession, possibly the baptism of Tiridates by Saint Gregory the Illuminator, most likely originating from the Church of Saint Gregory in the New Julfa district (inv. AD 15118) (Gwenaëlle Fellinger, ‘Panel from an Armenian church’, in Sophie Makariou (ed.), Islamic Art at the Louvre, Paris, 2012, figs. 227–228, pp. 359–61). This panel adorns the cover of Armen Tokatlian’s book, *Kalantars*. Armenian Lords in Safavid Persia, Geuthner, 2009, a work devoted to the elites of New Jolfā. Several other tiles from similar compositions have appeared on the market, including notably a tile depicting a pensive young man (a pensive courtier) (Simon Ray, *Indian & Islamic Works of Art*, London, November 2021, cat. 16) and a panel comprising two tiles decorated with three figures (Simon Ray, *Indian & Islamic Works of Art*, London, November 2024, cat. 1). For a recent study of this group of tiles, see the book by Lisa Golombek and Robert B. Mason, Princes, Dervishes and Dragons. The Tile Arcade from Safavid Isfahan (c. 1685–95), Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art, Edinburgh University Press, 2025. Tile decorated with a woman sitting in front of a spinning wheel Safavid Persia, Isfahan, late 17th century Stonepaste, coloured glazes and black lines over an opaque glaze (formerly known as the ‘cuerda seca’ technique). Expert: Laure SOUSTIEL
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About the sale Display cases - Archaeology - Far East
Auction location
Auction time 07/09/2026 at 2:00 PM
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