"عبر بلاد فارس على سرج ركوب جانبي" [‎٩‎٨] (٣٦٠/١٢٩)

98 THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
feet), when our guest picked up a pretty piece of tile, and
said that it was reflet metalhque. At 1 ehran I had been
shown a tiny cup and saucer of this ancient ware, but so
ugly were they in form and colouring that I had felt no desire
to possess any specimens myself. However, this was very
different—a brown design shot with gold on a pure white
ground, a thing pleasing to the eye even of the Philistine.
The making of this reflet, with its peculiar glaze, is a lost
art, and it is over six hundred years since any of the ware
has been manufactured. Blue, brown, red and purple were
the colours principally employed in these tiles, which
have a wonderful metallic iridescence when turned towards
the light.
Our imaginations were greatly fired at the sight of
countless fragments of this beautiful ware lying around us;
and when the Kermanis understood that we wished to buy
tiles, plenty of them, although usually, alas, in broken
condition, were brought to the Consulate.
Some of them had raised Kufic characters on them, and
one was inscribed with the words ' Hail, Omar!' in
■curious contrast to the hatred with which this Khalif is
now regarded by all orthodox Persians. Bits of lattice
work made of pottery, and dainty turquoise blue tiles,
with birds or rabbits traced on them in gold, might once
have formed part of the palace anderoon, while some very
handsome, much broken pieces, with the word ' Allah,'
evidently belonged to the mosque. In these latter the
letters were of a deep purple, and were raised from the
white, brown-traced ground, as were also the large rich
blue leaves, and Mr. Reade, of the British Museum, con
siders that these fragments are perhaps some of the best
reflet metallique ever brought to England.