The Il-Khanids were the khanate rulers appointed to serve as governors of the Middle Eastern territories conquered and absorbed into Chingis Khan's Mongol empire. Though they ruled for less than a century, and though they did not at first convert to Islam, their rule stimulated an efflorescence of the arts, culture and science as yet unseen in the Islamic world.¹

The decorative motifs used on the tile demonstrate an interesting mix of Persian and Chinese elements. The central image of the simurgh has undergone a transformation from the Sassanian dog- or human-headed bird [link to ps041573.jpg in the Sassanian section] (the Sassanian period produced artworks decorated with examples of both type) to a creature more closely related to a Chinese phoenix. The bird is surrounded by cloud motifs of Chinese origin (possibly derived from silk brocades imported from China). The geometrical octagonal shape of the tile, however, demonstrates the tile was used in a specifically Middle Eastern architectural context, locking together with other octagonal- and cross-shaped tiles to complete a design intended to cover an entire wall with color. The verses inscribed around the edge of the tile are in Persian (they praise a lover who is compared with the bright sun), while the reign date appears on the upper-right corner.²

(1) From the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco's web page dedicated to this object.

(2) Ibid.