The Lusterware Produced in Kashan at the End of the 15th Century and in the First Half of the 16th Century

Although Kashan was one of the main centers of lusterware production in the Islamic world during the Ilkhanid period, from the middle of the fourteenth century this industry declined in the city. Afterwards, at the end of the fifteenth century, once again, we witness the prevalence of making luster tiles in Kashan, but with different forms and contents. This article introduces 15 tiles which were produced between the years 1478 and 1560. These tiles were generally in the form of inscribed tablets with such functions as tombstone and mihrab, and were installed on the walls of religious buildings such as mosques and shrines. This paper, besides introducing two unknown luster tiles, surveys the content of all the known samples. It also tries to determine the difference between the luster tiles of this period and the Ilkhanid samples in terms of form, use, and content. Moreover, the relationship between the content of these tiles and the religious beliefs of the Iranian people at the beginning of the Safavid era has been addressed. The results show that in contrast to the Ilkhanid samples in which Quranic phrases constitute the main content, the luster tiles of this era are influenced by Shiite beliefs.