Islamic Tiles (review)

256 Reviews In the sixth essay, 'The Marian ExUes and the Elizabethan Settlement', Pettegree contests the views of historians that Elizabeth's Protestantism at the outset of her reign was anything less than wholehearted and that the reUgious settlement was a compromise between the queen, the returning Marian exUes and parliament. H e suggests that these views have been read back from later discord and the alienation of the Calvinist reformers over ornaments and vestments, and that Elizabeth's apparent conservatism was in fact a demonstration of the queen's insistence on her royal prerogative. In conclusion, Pettegree argues that the survival of Protestantism in England was not simply the result of the timely death of Mary and the accession of her Protestant successor. Rather, too Uttle has been made of Protestant tenacity both among the exUe communities and at home in England. This book is an outstanding contribution to Reformation scholarship in general, and especiaUy to the study of reUgious conditions in England during Mary's reign and the establishment of the EUzabethan religious settlement. Julie Ann Smith Department of History Massey University Porter, Venetia, Islamic Tiles, London, British Museum Press, 1995; paper; pp. 128; 43 colour, 71 b / w Ulustiations; 2 maps; R.R.P. AUS$32.95. [Distributed in AustraUa by Thames and Hudson]. This unpretentious book, a deUghtful contribution to the British Museum's 'Eastern Art Series', serves a twofold purpose. It acts as a useful guide to the British M u s e u m coUection of Islamic tiles originating from the historic Middle East. It further offers an attractively Ulustrated, basic, coherent typological survey of their history. Thefirstchapter, 'Craftsmen and techniques', begins with a brief treatment of the operational system employed by medieval ceramic workshops and their personnel. It is foUowed by a description of the technical aspects involved in the production of tUes, dealing with the kilns and moulds, the materials (clay and stone-paste), the chemistry Reviews 257 of glazes, and finaUy the principal techniques (lustre, underglaze and overglaze painting,tilemosaic and cuerda seed) used in the decoration of Islamic tilework. In the second chapter, entitled 'Like the Ught of the sun', the author covers the initial period of the history of Islamic tilework. Although it had a long pre-Islamic tradition, tilework in the early period of Islam constituted only a very small fraction of the total sophisticated ceramic ware production. Archaeological evidence dating from that period (ninth-eleventh centuries) has only been found at two sites so far. Glazed and lustretilesoriginating from the transient Abbasid capital of Samarra (836-883) are nowadays dispersed through different museums in Europe, North America and the Middle East. But some 139 monochromic and polychromic tiles can stiU be admired in the ninth century mosque of Qairouan. In the eleventh century, lustretileswere produced also in North Africa, as is evident from the specimens found in Algeria. It was in the subsequent centuries that lustre tiles became an impressive and integral element of Islamic interior and exterior architectural decoration. This glorious phase of Islamic tilework history is discussed in three remaining chapters that are suggestively entitled: 'An explosion oftiles:Iran, AnatoUa and Syria. 12th-14th centuries'; 'Veils of splendour: Iran and Central Asia. 14th-19th centuries'; Torus Flowers and TuUps: Syria and Turkey. 15th-19th centuries'. Each of these chapters offers a brief historical and geographic background of the origin of the particular tiles in question, foUowed by a consistently arranged discussion of technological, typological and artistic aspects. Special attention is given to the great potting families of Kashan in central Iran, in whose hands Islamic tUes 'were to reach an unparaUeled degree of virtuosity and sophistication'. The value of this readable methodical survey is greatly enhanced by 43 colour and 71 black and white Ulustrations of the typological samples under consideration. The majority of the beautifuUy reproduced samples are held in the British Museum; a smaU number of them come from other collections and a few photographs of tiles in situ have been added to provide context. Although these illustrations 258 Reviews by themselves convey the beauty offloral,geometric or calUgraphic motives displayed by thetiles,the appreciation of their inherent aesthetic and historical merits is...