Hexagonal Tile
Unknown Artist
first half 15th century
Medium
Stonepaste; painted under transparent glaze
Classification
Ceramics-Tiles
Department
Islamic Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Marilyn Jenkins, in memory of her father, Dr. Arthur M. Jenkins, 1982
Accession Number
1982.478.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite hexagonal tile, crafted in the first half of the th century, hails from the vibrant world of Islamic art, where ceramics adorned mosques, palaces, and madrasas across the Middle East. Produced during the Timurid or Mamluk eras, such tiles were integral to lavish architectural ensembles, creating shimmering walls that evoked paradise gardens. Donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1982 by Marilyn Jenkins in memory of her, Dr. Arthur M. Jenkins, this piece exemplifies the era's mastery in transforming humble clay into luminous decoration. Made of stonepaste—a composite of quar...