These watercolor sketches show ceramic details from the northeastern mausoleum in the northern cluster of shrines at the Shah-i Zindah necropolis (Samarkand, Uzbekistan). The sketches were included in the archeological part of <em>Turkestan Album</em>, a six-volume survey produced in 1871-72, under the patronage of General Konstantin P. von Kaufman, the first governor-general (1867-82) of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire's Central Asian territories were called. The album devotes special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors. Of particular note is Shah-i Zindah (Persian for “living king”), built on the elevated site of an ancient settlement known as Afrosiab and revered as a memorial to Kusam-ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. Although the patron of this mausoleum has not been conclusively identified, it was built in 1360-61, most likely for a maiden of noble birth. Despite major damage (probably due to an earthquake), the mausoleum has preserved rich polychrome ceramic ornamentation in floral, geometric, and inscriptional forms. These sketches show tendril and floral patterns on ceramic tiles in an upper vault known as <em>mocárabe</em>—also referred to as a “honeycomb” or “stalactite” vault because of the appearance of its suspended ornamental elements.
<br>Architectural decorations and ornaments; Islamic architecture; Sepulchral monuments; Shāh-i Zindah; Tombs; Watercolors
Shostak, L. A.
between 1865 and 1872 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1865-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1872-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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