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EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
tion of his services to art, in reviving Persian ceramic designs.
Reference should here be made to the notice in a previous portion of the Report of the display made by Deck, and to the section upon Enamelled Terra-cotta, etc.
Tiles from India.
• Several collections of ancient tiles were forwarded from India, most of them being taken from tombs at Tatta, and from a ruined fortress near the same place on the Buggar, a western branch of the Indus, built in the year a. d. 1421. The following account of the method of making tiles is taken from notes sent on by the Local Committee in India.
Tiles are prepared in moulds, and when dried are rubbed over with a piece of wet cloth, and beaten with an earthen maul for the purpose of smoothing the surface. They are then kept for two or three days, or more, till they become sufficiently firm; and, after having been cut to the proper size, are piled in layers in the sun to dry.
The tiles, having been sun-dried, may then be sent to the kiln, after which the required pattern is traced upon them in the following manner: " A perforated paper pattern is placed upon the surface and powdered charcoal is sprinkled over it. On removing the paper the pattern remains on the earthenware, and is then brushed over with a solution called ' Sahree.’ When this is dry, glaze of the required color is prepared and poured over it; the article is then allowed to dry again, after which it is placed in the glazing kiln and fired.” The "Sahree” appears to be a colored clay differing from the body of the tile.
The use of colored tiles in Indian architecture is referred to the third period, beginning with the Sur dynasty in 1540, wffien colored decoration was first introduced with boldness.
" The system of encaustic tiling had been introduced about the end of the thirteenth century in Persia, where the ruined mosque of Tabreez is said still to glow with a most elaborate pattern and hue. The first fine specimen of this art in Upper India seems to be the Killa Kona mosque,