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Object Timeline

1951

  • We acquired this object.

2012

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Tile (Ottoman Empire (present day Syria))

This is a tile. It is dated late 16th–early 17th century and we acquired it in 1951. Its medium is tin-glazed earthenware, underglaze decoration. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

De Forest collected tiles on his travels in the Middle East, following Frederic Church’s example. This tile represents the type de Forest sent home for interior decoration projects—often for fireplace surrounds. Church used his own tiles to decorate a fireplace surround at Olana that featured a carved wood mantel from de Forest’s Ahmedabad studio.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Tiles of Old Revisited.

This object was donated by Mrs. Russell C. Veit. It is credited Gift of Mrs. Russell C. Veit.

  • Mantilla (France)
  • silk.
  • Gift of Mrs. George Nichols from the collection of her mother, Mrs. J.P. Morgan.
  • 1939-66-45
  •

Our curators have highlighted 7 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Plate (France)
  • tin-glazed thrown earthenware.
  • Gift of Mrs. George T. Bliss.
  • 1907-23-4
  •
  • Heatwave Radiator
  • molded polyconcrete (polyester concrete), aluminum.
  • Gift of Jaga, N.V..
  • 2008-13-1-a/c
  • Tile
  • glazed, lustered and painted stonepaste, rolled and pierced silver (later mount).
  • Gift of Ruth Friedman in memory of Harry G. Friedman.
  • 1966-3-5-a/c

Its dimensions are

26.8 x 25.9 x 2.5 cm (10 9/16 x 10 3/16 x 1 in. )

Cite this object as

Tile (Ottoman Empire (present day Syria)); tin-glazed earthenware, underglaze decoration; 26.8 x 25.9 x 2.5 cm (10 9/16 x 10 3/16 x 1 in. ); Gift of Mrs. Russell C. Veit; 1951-66-9

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Passion for the Exotic: Lockwood de Forest, Frederic Church.

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18389031/ |title=Tile (Ottoman Empire (present day Syria)) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=9 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>