A MULTAN POTTERY TILE WITH A DENSELY INSCRIBED MIHRAB
Multan, modern-day Pakistan, late 19th century

Of square shape with a fragmentary side, painted in the characteristic cobalt blue and turquoise along with splashes of yellow and green, all on white, depicting a mihrab niche inscribed with the Ayat al-Kursi (2:255), a densely flowering prunus blossom below, above the arch a white border with a further Quranic inscription from Sura al-Anbiya (21:107), and invocations to Allah and Mohammad in the blue squinches, 30.5cm x 29.5cm.