Star tile with horse

Manufactured in the tile-making capital of Kashan, Iran, in 1310, this eight-sided ceramic tile is emblematic of artistic patronage under the Ilkhanids. Mongol rulers were generous patrons of local art, allowing them to establish themselves as legitimate rulers over their conquered lands. The cobalt-blue and luster glazes, renowned techniques of pre-Mongol tile making in Iran, is accompanied by a horse motif. Horses were important symbols to the Mongols due to their significance in supporting a nomadic lifestyel. A Persian poem by Shaikh Majd al-Din Baghdad is inscribed along the perimeter of the tile. The confluence of both Persian and Mongol artistic traditions on the tile is illustrative of the cross-cultural exchange during the Ilkhanid era of Mongol rule.