Mattonella a lustro Kashan Iran, tardo XIII secolo Mis: 29.2 X h. 35 cm Rectangular panel in moulded siliceous paste with phytomorphic and zoomorphic decorations in relief and painted in light lustre.Originally part of a larger frieze, the panel consists of two borders decorated with half palmettes in reserve on lustre and painted in lustre with small spirals and shoots. The central band is decorated with a fight between an elephant and a feline between plant racemes and birds. The tile is heavily restored, but retains the original traces of cobalt blue and turquoise underneath. Plaques of this type were produced in the kilns of Kashan to adorn shrines and palaces of high Ilkhanid patrons. The subjects are often taken from literature, but also, as might be the case here, from bestiaries.