Two panels of earthenware tiles, painted in polychrome glazes over a white glaze

These colorful panels from the Qajar period can be seen as continuing the Safavid tile tradition from the 17th century, with the addition to the palette of the distinctive pink color in the first half of the 19th century. A new element is the artists’ deliberate work with light and shadow, under the influence of European art.

The inscriptions, which are rarely found, state that the tiles were ordered by Loftali the baker, who had made a pilgrimage to Mashhad, and that they were made in the workshop of master Ibrahim for a building constructed by Hajji Ali Muhammad Husayn.