An important Iznik pottery tile depicting the Ka'ba, Turkey, possibly dated 1[0]88 AH/1677-8 AD

decorated underglaze in blue, viridian green and bole red on a white ground with black outlines and inscriptions depicting the Holy Sanctuary in Mecca marking: the Ka’ba, the Maqams of Ibrahim, Hanafi, Shafi’i, and Hanbali; Gates of: Safa, ‘Umra, al-Salam and Fatima; the qubba of Farrash, Isma’il rock and Ka’ba gate

Ex-private collection, Denmark, 1960s

Surface chips and damage with associated restoration, including overpainting and overspray, as viewed.
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This tile features a depiction of the Ka’ba, the holiest monument in Islam, set within its location in the sanctuary of the Great Mosque of Mecca (the Masjid al-Haram). Further significant places represented on this tile include the four gates leading out of the mosque in various directions, the tombs of the founders of the four orthodox legal schools, the tomb of Abraham, the minbar or pulpit of The Prophet, the dome over the carpet warehouse, the Black Stone, the stone of Isma’il and the gold spout at the top of the Ka’ba.

The Ka’ba lies at the centre of the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam; it is a sacred duty for believers to go at least once in their life if they are able to. Individual tiles such as the present example, depicting the holy sites of Islam such as Mecca and Medina, were produced in the Ottoman centres of ceramic production such as Iznik and Kutahya between the mid-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The earliest tile, in the Aya Sofya, is dated 1642, whilst the most recent comparable example is in the Cezerli Kasim Pasha Camii in Istanbul, dated 1724. 

The number 1[0]88 appears upside down on the bottom of this tile, and whereas it can be interpreted as a date (1088 AH/1677-8 AD - which would place it at the centre of the known date of production for these tiles), it should also be considered within the context of its manufacture, possibly marking its production number. As well as being erected on the walls of mosques, notably the qibla wall or in the mihrab, these tiles were also set in the houses and palaces of those who had been on Hajj, underlying the importance of this ritual.

Tiles with depictions of the sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina are found in most major collections of Islamic art, including the British Museum, London (inv. no. 2009,6039.1), the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 427-1900), the Louvre Museum, Paris (inv. no. OA 3919/556), the Benaki Museum, Athens (inv. no. ΓΕ 124), the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin (inv. no. Nr. I. 6620), the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. no. 51/1979), the Aga Khan Museum (inv. no. AKM00587), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 2012/337), and the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (inv. no. 48.1307). The closest comparable example to the present tile, notably in the inclusion of unusual details such as the clusters of water jugs probably representing containers of water from the holy zamzam well, is now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo, dated 1074 AH/1663 AD (inv. no. 16645).

A similar tile was sold at Christie’s, 4 October 2012, lot 243. Another tile depicting the Ka'ba was sold in these rooms, 13 October 2004, lot 198. For further information on and examples of artworks relating to the Hajj, see V. Porter & M.A.S. A. Helim, (eds.) Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, London, 2012.