Earthenware frieze, with carved ornamentation painted in white, turquoise, and a manganese glaze

This frieze dates to a period when colorful, glazed pottery began to play an increasingly prominent role in decorations on Islamic architecture. The trend was already present under the Il-Khanids and reached its first culmination with the monumental architecture of the Timurids in Samarkand.

It is uncertain where the frieze comes from, but the artist was able to create a fascinating pattern in white and turquoise – at times a positive, at others a negative – consisting of palmettes that bring to mind fleurs-de-lis. He underlined the relief effect by glazing the deeply carved grooves with manganese.