1955.89: Plaque with mihrab motif framed by inscription in relief

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1955.89

Title

Plaque with mihrab motif framed by inscription in relief

Other Titles

Alternate Title: Commemorative Plaque

Classification

Architectural Elements

Work Type

architectural element

Date

13th century

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran

Period

Seljuk-Atabeg period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/216877

Location

Location

Level 2, Room 2550, Art from Islamic Lands, The Middle East and North Africa

View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Turquoise overglaze fritware

Technique

Glazed-monochrome

Dimensions

34 x 25.7 x 3.8 cm (13 3/8 x 10 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Francis Lee Friedman

Accession Year

1955

Object Number

1955.89

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The niche in the center of this turquoise plaque references a mihrab—the marker within a mosque that signals the qibla, that is, the direction toward the city of Mecca. Muslims are required to turn toward Mecca in prayer. The representation of the mihrab on this ceramic plaque—depicting a sanctuary lamp suspended from chains— evokes sacred text without literally reproducing it, for it calls to mind a well-known verse from the Qur’an (24:35) that begins: "God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche, wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is, as it were, a shining star.…"

Inscribed (Arabic): He is God, the One, the Only God,the Eternal, the Absolute. He begetteth not, nor is Hebegotten. And there is none like unto Him. (Qur’an, 112)

Commentary

Label text from exhibition “Re-View,” an overview of objects drawn from the collections of Harvard Art Museums, 26 April 2008 – 1 July 2013; label text written by Mary McWilliams, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art:

Plaque in the Form of a Mihrab
Iran or Syria, Saljuq-Atabeg era, 12th–13th century
Fritware with molded decoration under glaze
Inscribed (Arabic) Say: He is God, the One, the Only God,the Eternal, the Absolute. He begetteth not, nor is Hebegotten. And there is none like unto Him. (Qur’an, 112)
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Francis Lee Friedman, 1955.89

The niches in the center of both this turquoise plaque and the adjacent tombstone reference a mihrab—the marker within a mosque that signals the qibla, that is, the direc¬tion toward the city of Mecca. Muslims are required to turn toward Mecca in prayer, and Muslim burial practices cus¬tomarily align the body with the qibla. The representation of the mihrab on the ceramic plaque—depicting a sanctuary lamp suspended from chains—is more pictorial than that on the tombstone. This imagery evokes sacred text without lit¬erally reproducing it, for it calls to mind a well-known verse from the Qur’an (24:35) that begins: “God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche, wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is, as it were, a shining star.…”

Publication History

• Mary McWilliams, "Islamic Ceramic Traditions", The Studio Potter, ed. Gerry Williams (New Hampshire, December 2002), vol. 31, no.1, pp44, fig.2
• Mary McWilliams, Baraka: Blessings in Clay, The Studio Potter, Mary Barringer (Shelburne Falls, MA, 2007), Vol. 35, No. 2, p 14-19, p. 17, fig. 4

Exhibition History

• The Best Workmanship, the Finest Materials: Prayer Carpets of the Islamic World, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/03/2002 - 12/15/2002
• Overlapping Realms: Arts of the Islamic World and India, 900-1900, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 12/02/2006 - 03/23/2008
• Re-View: Arts of India & the Islamic Lands, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/26/2008 - 06/01/2013
• 32Q: 2550 Islamic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/06/2019 - 01/01/2050
• 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/10/2016 - 02/22/2016

Subjects and Contexts

• Google Art Project

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