the calligraphy and outlines in black with dark blue bands and details on a white ground under a transparent glaze, set in an old wooden frame, with handwritten collector's note to reverse and printed '44' label.

Provenance: Ex-private collection, Germany, Prof. Karabauer.

inscriptions: 'Drink here what is healing'
A foundation tablet for a drain made by a certain Zayn al-‘Abidin given in Arabic in rhymed form, dated in abjad: ishrab huna (hanniyann?) shafa ‘Drink [with] enjoyment, [it] will heal’, which adds up to 981 AH (1573-4 AD).

Note: The handwritten note reads:
'The tile bears a chronogram which carries the date: '...[saying in Arabic]' which is not a date: 'Drink what brings you health' - The combination of the letters [ie the chronogram' gives the date 981 AH/1573 AD' Prof. Karabauer.