A rare Mamluk blue and white square tile, probably Damascus, Syria, first half 15th century

of square form decorated under the glaze with cobalt blue and black with a large split-palmette scroll terminating in full palmette leaves, with cobalt blue border outlined in black

clean break with repair, chip to one corner with repair, minor glaze chips, overall fair to good condition, mounted on board, as viewed
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With the influx of Chinese blue and white ceramics into the Middle East in the late-14th century, the Mamluk potters embraced the palette (and some of the designs) of these imported luxuries. In this instance the decorator adopts the fashion for blue-and-white but retains a very conventional middle eastern decorative schema in the form of the split-palmette arabesque scroll, thereby conflating the indigenous and the exotic.

Large square tiles of this sort seem to have been made only in small numbers. They tend to be more carefully executed than the majority of smaller hexagonal tiles which were manufactured at the same time, probably in the same kilns. The restrained exuberance of the design on the present tile suggests that it may have been part of a religious building, possibly a mihrab or fountain panel.

The distinctive palmette scroll with curved scimitar-like leaves is a form that persists throughout the Mamluk period, appearing in carved masonry from the reign of Baybars (r. 1260-77) (see Stierlin, H. et A., L'Egypte des Mille et Une Nuits, Paris, 1996, p.20) up to the period of Qaytbay (r. 1468-96) (ibid., p.157).

A related square tile sold in these rooms, 3 May 2001, lot 116, and is now in a major private collection.