A Nasrid lustre pottery tile, Spain, 14th century

of square form painted in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze lustre with a small central medallion containing the Nasrid motto surrounded by a geometric interlace pattern filled with stylised foliate forms on a blue ground, a quadrant of the medallion repeated at each corner, later fruitwood frame

inscriptions

Repetition of: la ghalib illa allah

'There is no Conqueror but God'

Pavement tiles of the same design bearing the Nasrid motto were used in the Alhambra Palace in Granada (see Caviró, B.M., La Ceramica Hispanomusulmana, Madrid, 1991, pl.106, p.113). For a related type, also from the Alhambra, see Ray 2000, nos.608-610, pp.312, and Granada 1995, nos.136-8, pp. 371-2. In the course of the latter half of the nineteenth century tourists visiting the Alhambra were encouraged to remove tiles as souvenirs and many are now to be found in museums and collections across Europe (Ibid. p.312).

A thermo-luminescence test by Oxford Authentication yielded a result consistent with the proposed dating of this tile.