QAJAR POLYCHROME TILE DEPICTING A PRINCE HUNTING WITH HIS FALCON

Fritware, moulded, underglaze polychrome painted tile, depicting a prince riding a horse, holding his falcon with his left hand. The background of the tile has been embellished with spring flowers and palaces in far distance. The top decorated with a band of birds resting on intertwined vines.

The tradition of depicting people and animals has always been alive for centuries in regions where the Muslim faith spread. The tradition of depicting people and animals has deep roots in Seljuk, Fatimid, Ayyubid, early Mamluk art, Ottoman, Mughal, Safavid and Qajar art. Figures were not just used for a decorative purpose but also to convey religious, cultural and political messages. The most frequent themes are a ruler seated on a throne as a symbol of sovereignty; battle scenes, scenes of palace life showing activities such as shooting with a bow and arrow on horseback, hunting with hawks/falcons, playing polo, figures of musicians, dancers, servants offering wine in a cup which represent palace entertainments. The present tile can be interpreted under this category. For further information please see, Motif from the Sadberk Hanim Museum Collection (written by Turgut Saner, Şebnem Eryavuz and Hülya Bilgi), Sadberk Hanim Museum, Istanbul, 2020, pp. 146-147.

Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained falcon. The falcon was a symbolic bird of the ancient Mongol tribes. In the 7th century, concrete figures of falconers on horseback were described on the rocks in Kyrgyz. Falconry was probably introduced to Europe around 400 C.E., when the Huns and the Alans invaded from the east. Historically, falconry was a popular sport and status symbol among the nobles of medieval Europe and the Islamic world.

A comparable Qajar tile with an equestrian with a falcon is in the National Museums, Scotland. Please see the article, Friederike Voigt, “Equestrian Tiles and the Rediscovery of Underglaze Painting in Qajar Iran”, Revealing the Unseen: New Perspectives on Qajar Art Edited by Gwenaëlle Fellinger & Melanie Gibson, Gingko – Louvre Editions, Paris, 2021, p. 159.