Tile section of a mihrab

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Tile section of a mihrab

Iran, Kashan, early 14th century
Ceramics
Fritware, overglaze luster-painted, with cobalt and turquoise
overall: 40 1/2 x 46 7/8 in. (102.87 x 119.0625 cm) unspecified (unspecified): 40 1/2 x 46 7/8 in. (102.87 x 119.06 cm) Weight: 270 lb. (122.5 kg)
The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky (M.73.5.1)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

A mihrab is a characteristic architectural element in mosques and other places where Muslims worship. It serves to emphasize the direction of Mecca, toward which all prayer is oriented....
A mihrab is a characteristic architectural element in mosques and other places where Muslims worship. It serves to emphasize the direction of Mecca, toward which all prayer is oriented. Shaped like a niche, the mihrab is usually concave, but flat examples also occur, as here. This mihrab, which represents only the upper central panel of what was undoubtedly a larger ensemble, is inscribed with a passage from the Qur'an (15:45–47) that refers to Paradise, suggesting that it may have once graced a funerary monument.
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Bibliography

  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, ed.  Islamic Art:  The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection.  Los Angeles:  Museum Associates, 1973.
  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

  • Pal, Pratapaditya, ed.  Islamic Art:  The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection.  Los Angeles:  Museum Associates, 1973.
  • Donahue, Kenneth.  X, a Decade of Collecting:  1965-1975.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1975.
  • Donahue, Kenneth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Handbook. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1977.
  • Komaroff, Linda.  Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Los Angeles:  Museum Associates, 2005.
  • Egyptian, Roman, Western Asiatic & Islamic, Indian and Cambodian Antiquities: the Property of the Kevorkian Foundation. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, 1970.
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