A fine intact Kashan lustre star tile with figures, Persia, 13th Century

of octagonal form, painted in brown lustre, cobalt blue and turquoise with a pair of seated haloed figures in front of a pond flanking a cypress tree decorated with a bird issuing fleshy palmettes reserved on a scratched scrolled ground

Published in 1400 Years of Islamic Art, London 1981, no.117

Two related tiles depicting two confronted figures before a fish-pool are in the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. no. 37/2000 and 26/1967), see von Folsach 2001, no. 210, p.168. Other examples dated to 1266-7 which bear similar animal and figural decoration but with calligraphic borders, are found in the Louvre and originate from the Imamzada Ja'far at Damghan (see Watson 1985, fig.110, p.133). 

Only a few examples of Kashan ware from this period are signed but the fine quality and expressive character of the present example suggest that it was painted by a master decorator in the vein of Abu Zaid underlining the close relationship between the minai and lustre ateliers (Watson 1985, p.84).