Two calligraphic Zilij pottery tiles, North Africa, 13th/14th century

painted in purplish-black glaze, carved with an inscription against spiralling stems between two bands
(2)
10.2 by 16.5cm.

inscription
'Good-fortune ... complete'

Condition Report:
Some breaks with associated repainting, rubbing and losses to the glaze, as viewed.

Catalogue Note:
Zilij mosaics generally consist of very small monochrome tiles forming a polychrome, geometrical design. Moroccan buildings from the Marinid period are often decorated with such panels, surmounted with a hizam band of calligraphy and tawriq foliage like the tiles at hand. See for example a photograph of Madrasa Ben Youssef, published in Hedgcoe & Samar Damluji 1992, pp.154-5.

Provenance:
Bonhams, London, 25 October 2007, lot 144