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When you stand before the Kashan mihrab, the first thing you notice is the shifting light on its surface. The shimmering effect changes as luster-glazed tiles catch the angle of it differently depending on where you stand. Eight hundred years ago, this luster niche was crafted in the small Iranian city of Kashan. It has since traveled 6,400 kilometers and in 2027, it will be seen in a new light.
The Kashan mihrab is the only example of monumental Persian luster mihrab shown in a public museum in Europe. When the Pergamon Museum reopens in 2027, it will be presented in a gallery dedicated to 'Muslim religious spaces - Insights into religious practice'. Behind it lies a story of extraordinary luster technique, sacred inscriptions, and an interesting journey that brought it to Berlin.
The Kashan Mihrab
Seventy-four individually molded, painted and glazed tiles together form one of the most remarkable objects in the Museum for Islamic Art's collection. It is nearly three metres tall, almost two metres wide.
In Kashan, the luster tile panel adorned a wall niche of the central dome chamber in the prayer hall of the Meydan Mosque. There it marked the mihrab, the prayer niche of a mosque, which is one of the most essential architectural elements in a mosque, as it indicates the direction of Mecca, towards which all Muslims pray.
The Kashan mihrab is unlike the prayer niches typically found in a mosque. It represents a two-dimensional type characteristic of medieval Iran, where the form is flat, with only the half-columns accentuated. The flat shape is repeated three times in diminishing sizes, drawing the eye inward. Large blue inscriptions and ornaments as well as small turquoise accents stand in marked contrast to the dominant luster painting, which shimmers in shifting golden-brown tones. The blue colors were painted before glazing, and the luster pigment was applied after the gloss firing and fixed in a last firing.
The largest single piece sits above the capitals, carrying an arabesque decoration and a Quranic inscription. At the end of the large inscription master al-Hasan bin ʿArabshah left his signature and the date 1226.
Luster Technique
"It shines like the light of the sun"
This is how Abu al-Qasim Kashani describes the distinctive iridescent effect on the surface, achieved through two separate firings. Kashani was a member of the famous al-Qasim family of ceramists.
Kashan, a small city from Iran, became famous across the world for its production of luster ware. The special technique required to create the luster ware was passed down through families of ceramicists. Artists in Kashan produced particularly valuable prayer niches in shimmering luster ceramics for Shiite saints' tombs in the 14th century. These were technical masterpieces that unfolded a unique splendor through their intense colors and carefully composed designs.
Making a luster ware ceramic
The process of making luster ware is considered to be complicated and special, described by Abu al-Qasim Kashani around 1300 as "a kind of alchemy".
In the first firing, the ceramic vessel is glazed and fired in the usual way. The luster pigment, made from metallic compounds, is then painted onto the already-glazed surface and fired a second time in a smoke-filled kiln, where the reduced oxygen environment causes the metals to bond to the glaze and produce a shimmering, golden effect. Kashan was the city where this technique was mastered and refined to its highest expression, and its craftsmen were so closely identified with the art that the Persian word for glazed tile, kashi, derives from the city's name itself.
Centuries later, its impressive craftsmanship continues to inspire historians and artisans alike. Abbas Akbari, a scholar and master craftsman, has dedicated years to learning the art of luster ceramics and restoring the mihrab for Kashan.
Scripture at the mihrab
The mihrab is covered in sacred verses, but almost none of it was meant to be read. The verses are scripted in highly embellished fonts, scarcely legible for the mosque visitors. For the worshipper standing before it, the words did not need to be deciphered. Many believers need only one word to "hear" the text. The entire work of art only becomes complete through the ritual execution of prayer.
So what do the inscriptions say? Between the two capitals the Muslim profession of faith: "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his messenger", anchors the composition. The Throne Verse: Al-Baqara 255 (Sura 2, verse 255) is placed between the pillars and runs under the profession of faith between the capitals of the large pillars. It is understood as a demonstration of the omnipresence of God, as it expresses that his throne extends beyond heaven and earth.
The remaining inscriptions draw from Suras 76, 17, 97, and 112, with four verses selected for their direct or indirect relation to prayer and others affirming the Muslim faith more broadly. The only confessionally specific inscription runs over the two capitals, where the Shiite belief that 'Ali functions as God's representative' is recorded. All other inscriptions transcend denominational attribution.
The Inscriptions
- Surah 76 al-Insan, Verse 1 – 9 about the creation of mankind
- Surah 17 al-Isra, Verse 78 – 81 with the call to prayer
- Sure 11 Hud, Verse 114 with the call to prayer
- Shi’ite profession of faith with reference to Ali and the Shia
- Surah 2 al-Bakara, Verse 255, the throne verse about the almightiness of God
- Surah 112 al-Ichlas about belief without reservation
- Surah 97 al-Qadr about the night in which the Qur’an was sent down
- Surah 2, Verse 137 about the almightiness of God
- Signature of the master
The Artist's Signature
Tucked into the lower left corner, in conspicuously large letters among the words of God, a craftsman wrote his own name. The inscription reads: "this has been written at the end of Safar in the year six hundred and twenty-three by al-Ḥasan ibn 'Arabshāh" (623/1226). As Margaret Shortle, curator at the museum, has observed, the scale of the signature is almost startlingly set against the divine words to which it is juxtaposed. In boldly claiming responsibility for the inscriptions, al-Ḥasan simultaneously acknowledges his role in transmitting God's message and asserts his own social standing in relation to a figure bearing the authority for such transmission.
This was not an isolated gesture. Luster tile panels destined for official architectural spaces were increasingly inscribed with the craftsman's signature as part of a broader moment around the turn of the fourteenth century when craftsmen across many materials first began attaching their names to the objects they made. What these signatures are ultimately doing, Shortle notes, is building upon existing mechanisms for securing recognition and remuneration for highly skilled and much sought-after labor, a subtle but firm assertion of artistic agency on behalf of the hands responsible for the work.
From Kashan to Berlin
The thirteenth century signed luster mihrab from Kashan once embellished the Masjid-i-Imad al-Din, also known as the Masjid-i-Meydan. It remained there until the late nineteenth century, when it was removed and taken to London as part of the private collection of John Richard Preece (1843-1917), an Englishman who served as British Consul General in Isfahan. About three decades later in 1913, Preece's collection of Persian arts was exhibited and entered the market. It was then acquired in 1927 by Friedrich Sarre for the Islamic Art Department in Berlin, traveling a total of about 6,400 kilometers from Kashan. Today it stands at the Museum for Islamic Art as an iconic example of the luster technique.
The photograph from Dieulafoy is recorded as one of the earliest known print of the mihrab published in full for the first time. It shows the mihrab installed in the lower rectangular recess of a wall niche in the dome chamber of the Meydan Mosque. This photograph drew widespread European interest at a time when Persian art and lusterware were capturing growing attention across the continent.
Friedrich Sarre, the German art historian known for shaping the scholarly field of Islamic art history at the beginning of the twentieth century, came across the mihrab first through this book. When he visited Kashan early in 1900 the mihrab had already been taken away and he mentions being shown a few tiles on this visit.
He saw the mihrab in person on his visit to Preece’s brother’s residence in Wimbledon in 1910 and had probably already thought about acquiring it for the Islamic Art Department in Berlin.
Preece presented his collection from Persia in the advanced years of his life in 1913. The mihrab from Kashan took center stage and was presented as entry no. 1. In an essay about the Kashan mihrab, Markus Ritter reports that the mihrab remained unsold despite being advertised and presented with pomp and vigor in Preece’s exhibition catalogue as World War I broke out only a year after its presentation. Sarre pursued the acquisition of the mihrab through negotiations with Preece and had to appeal to the public office to raise the funding needed to acquire the mihrab. His letter to Ministry of Science argued about the importance, relevance and uniqueness of the luster mihrab:
"The acquisition of the prayer niche, to which only one single example outside of Persia is comparable, in the University Museum in Philadelphia, would be of utmost importance for the Islamic collection."
The mihrab that Sarre mentions here is the only comparable example of a luster mihrab outside Iran, and it is from the Emamzadeh Yahya in Varamin, Iran. Today, it is in the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Honolulu, Hawai'i, US (it remained in University Museum in Philadelphia until 1940).
The inventory book of the Islamic Art Department notes the year and sum paid by Sarre to acquire the mihrab and another object also from Preece’s collection. A sum of 6,900 pounds equivalent to 138,000 German marks was a significant amount especially in the struggling economy in the aftermath of war. Ultimately, funds were raised through a long-term loan without interest from Banker Jakob Goldschmidt, and by selling a carpet from Isfahan.
Transcription & Translation of the entry in the Inventory Book
Entry for the I. 5366 luster mihrab in the log of the Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin, 1926-1936
TRANSCRIPTION
Nr.: 5366 Katalog-Nummer: R.13.Bl.4 Gegenstand: Mihrab — Fayence Maße: H. 2,87 Br. 1,87 m
Transkription: Aus 74 Fliesen (ursprünglich 80), davon einige ergänzt, andere gebrochen. Weiß glasierte Reliefstruktur mit Blau, der Grund mit Lüstermalerei. Auf Zementplatten mit Eisenbändern unterstützt mit Holzpaneelen. Persien — datiert 623 H (1226)
Art der Erwerbung: Ausstattung von Sir W. Preece Erben durch Vincent Robinson, genehmigt 6/V 27, Preis mit 5367: 7000 £
Bemerkungen: Aus der Meidan-Moschee in Kashan. Pl. 9921, Pl. 9922, Pl. 10045, 14694 D. 128, D. 531, Pl. 6032 Pl. S. 10 = 762–749, 801
TRANSLATION
No.: 5366 Catalogue number: R.13.Bl.4 Object: Mihrab front — Faience Dimensions: H. 2.87 m, W. 1.87 m
Description: Comprising 74 tiles (originally 80), some of which have been replaced, others broken. White-glazed relief design with blue accents; the background features lustre painting. Mounted on cement panels with iron bands, supported by wooden panels. Persia — dated 623 AH (1226)
Provenance: Lot entered by Sir W. Preece’s estate, handled by Vincent Robinson, lot number 6/V 27, Price together with no. 5367: £7000.
Remarks: From the Meidan Mosque in Kashan. Pl. 9921, Pl. 9922, Pl. 10045, 14694 D. 128, D. 531, Pl. 6032 Pl. p. 10 = 762–749, 801
View the inventory book of the Museum for Islamic Art (1926-1936) online
Kashan Mihrab at the Pergamon Museum
The Kashan Mihrab has been an important object in the permanent display at the Pergamon Museum since its acquisition. At the Islamic Art Department, it was displayed alongside other objects and mihrabs from other regions with Islamic influence. It was shown alongside Persian art from Iran in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries in the pre-second world war display of objects. In the overhaul of exhibition in 2000s the focus shifted to chronological display. Its presentation has shifted with successive reinstallations reflecting changing curatorial approaches to the collection.
In 2027, when the Museum for Islamic Art reopens after a long-needed renovation of the museum, the mihrab will be exhibited in a separate room dedicated to understanding the religious practices of the Muslim societies.
Archival images from the collection of Museum for Islamic Art
Shimmering Secret of Kashan
Luster ceramics have fascinated viewers for more than a thousand years and the tradition is still very much alive. For a deeper look at the mihrab and the history of the technique, the Museum for Islamic Art's 2022 publication brings the scholarship drawing on the work of specialists across the field together in one place.
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