Islamic Geometric Tiles

Timeline

1. 1000–1200Córdoba · CórdobaIn the 11th century, palaces and mosques in al-Andalus tiled walls with star and cross-shaped geometric tiles; craftsmen used ruler-and-compass construction to achieve seamless tessellation; the technique spread to Egypt and the Levant via the Maghreb, establishing the basic vocabulary of Islamic architectural decoration.
2. 1321–1330Cairo · CairoIn the early 14th century, Mamluk sultans sponsored large-scale religious construction; Cairo kilns fired blue-and-white underglaze-painted geometric tiles, using ten-pointed and twelve-pointed star tessellations to decorate sultans' mausolea and mosque entrances; the craftsmanship of this period was precise and the color contrasts striking, making it a model of Islamic tile art.
3. c. 1250–1500Isfahan · IsfahanBetween the 13th and 15th centuries, Iran and Central Asia developed polychrome mosaic tiles (with muqarnas decoration and geometric band patterns); a tradition of complex star tessellation existed even before the Safavid dynasty; together with Egyptian underglaze painting, this formed the two great decorative systems of West Asia and North Africa.
4. c. 1500–1700İznik · İznikIn the 16th century, Ottoman İznik kilns fired large geometric and floral tiles in cobalt blue, turquoise, and tomato-red glazes, decorating imperial buildings such as the Süleyman Mosque; in the early 18th century quality declined and the kilns waned, and traditional handmade geometric tiles were gradually replaced by industrially produced glazed bricks.