Between the Object, Archive, and Gallery: Luster Tiles Attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya in the V&A, London

Featuring Fuchsia Hart, a film by Keelan Overton

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London (map) (website) preserves about twenty star and cross tiles attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya. These tiles are presumed to have originally clad the lower walls of the tomb and are among the earliest acquisitions of such tiles by a European museum, arriving in London in 1876. In this film, we get to know these luster tiles as three-dimensional objects, acquisitions of the then South Kensington Museum, and educational tools in the V&A’s current galleries. We begin in storage with curator Fuchsia Hart’s detailed physical inspection of several tiles and reading of archives related to their acquisition via the museum’s agent Robert Murdoch Smith (d. 1900) and in turn Tehran-based collector Jules Richard (d. 1891). We then enter the galleries and consider the display of tiles attributed to the tomb in three distinct areas of the museum.

Figure 1. Panel of luster star and cross tiles attributed to the tomb of Emamzadeh Yahya, Varamin. V&A, London, 1837&A, C, E, F-1876, 1487-1876, 1489-1876, 1838&C, E-1876, 1077-1892, 1099&A-1892, 1100&A-1892. Photograph by Keelan Overton, June 2024.
Figure 2. View of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, V&A, London. The panel of luster tiles attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya is visible on the right, just as you enter. Photograph by Keelan Overton, June 2024.
Figure 3. Views of gallery 137 and dense display (in the center of the gallery). Photographs by Keelan Overton, June 2024.
Figure 4. Tilting cross tile 1838B-1876 to animate the luster surface. Photograph by Keelan Overton, June 2024.

Luster tiles attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya in the V&A and discussed in this film
(all tiles measure between 28–31 cm)

  1. Cross tile, 1838B-1876 (storage)
  2. Star tile, 1837L-1876 (storage)
  3. Cross tile, 1077A-1892 (storage)
  4. Half star tile, 1837J-1876 (storage)
  5. Star tile, 1837L-1876 (gallery 137)
  6. Star tile, 1072-1875 (gallery 145)
  7. Panel of stars and crosses (Jameel Gallery): 1837&A, C, E, F-1876, 1487-1876, 1489-1876, 1838&C, E-1876, 1077-1892, 1099&A-1892, 1100&A-1892

The Film

Watch the film on our YouTube page in high resolution.

Practical resources:

Related pages:

  • Filmed tour of the Emamzadeh Yahya
  • Star and cross tiles attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya on the Checklist: nos. 17, 18, 19
  • For V&A curator Mariam Rosser-Owen’s consideration of Spanish luster and its presence in Jules Richard’s collection in Tehran, see Luster Market
  • Fuchsia Hart’s two filmed catalog entries: nos. 32 and 38

Sources:

  • Ceramic registers, V&A Museum, London
  • Robert Murdoch Smith files, V&A Archive, London, MA/1/S2325
  • Smith, Robert Murdoch. Persian Art. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876. [WorldCat]
  • Carey, Moya. Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A. London: V&A Publishing, 2017. [WorldCat]
  • Masuya, Tomoko. “Persian Tiles on European Walls: Collecting Ilkhanid Tiles in Nineteenth-Century Europe.” Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 39–54. [JSTOR]
  • Overton, Keelan. “Framing, Performing, Forgetting: The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin.” Platform,19 September 2022, https://www.platformspace.net/home/framing-performing-forgetting-the-emamzadeh-yahya-at-varamin.
  • Overton, Keelan. “Jane Dieulafoy in Varamin: The Emamzadeh Yahya through a Nineteenth-Century Lens.” Getty Research Journal 10 (spring 2024): 57–91. [Getty]

Acknowledgments: Thank you to Fuchsia Hart for participating in this film and the V&A Middle East department for supporting research and filming.

Fuchsia Hart The Sarikhani Curator for the Iranian Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Keelan Overton Independent scholar and Director of the exhibition

Vanessa Helou Film and Video Editor, Beirut and Paris

Citation: “Between the Object, Archive, and Gallery: Luster Tiles Attributed to the Emamzadeh Yahya in the V&A, London.” Featuring Fuchsia Hart, a film by Keelan Overton. In The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of an Iranian Shrine, directed and edited by Keelan Overton, 33 Arches, 2024. Host: Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online.