72 - Ceramic wall tile with black line decoration (formerly known as “cuerda seca”).

Ceramic wall tile with black line decoration (formerly known as “cuerda seca”). Iran, probably Safavid or Qajar, 18th–19th century. 23 x 23 cm Note: Architectural ceramics are one of the great expressions of Persian decorative arts. During the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736), the workshops in Isfahan notably developed extensive polychrome tile decorations for palaces, pavilions, and religious buildings. The technique known as *cuerda seca*, or “black-line decoration,” allowed the various colored glazes to be separated by a thick line, preventing them from mixing during firing. This tradition, particularly evident in the monumental decorations of Isfahan, continued under the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century. Several comparable sets are now preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.