Inscription Plaque, Possibly from a Door
c. 1693
- Medium
- forged steel, cut to shape and pierced
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Dimensions
- Overall: 27 x 35 cm (10 5/8 x 13 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Iran, Safavid period (1501–1722)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Islamic Art
- Credit line
- Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This pierced steel plaque is said to have adorned the royal tomb of Shah Suleyman II (reigned 1666–93). The Qur’anic inscription reads: “Verily, God and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet” (33:56). Steel plaques of this type required great skill to manufacture. Because of the steel’s tensile strength and durability, artists were able to create elaborate openwork plaques like this one to decorate the doors of mausolea and mosques.
