Tile with image of phoenix, late 13th century. Iran, probably Takht-i Sulaiman. Islamic. Stonepaste; modeled, underglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white ground; H. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm), W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1912 (12.49.4).

After the Mongol conquest of Persia in the thirteenth century, an extensive trade network opened from China to the Mediterranean, allowing goods to move more freely than in prior centuries. As the objects in this case demonstrate, Ilkhanid period artists readily adopted imagery from Chinese iconography, including lotus flowers, deer, dragons and other mythical creatures. This image of a soaring phoenix with crested head and elaborate trailing plumage exemplifies the adaptation of Chinese imagery by Persian artists.