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panel
Typically square or rectangular tablets, sometimes
set off by a raised edge or frame, panels represent, along with
plaques and tiles, an ancient ceramic form whose vast decorative
possibilities have been exploited for centuries by craftsmen from
Asia to Europe.
Glazed earthenware bricks were used in ancient
Babylon to adorn the walls of ceremonial structures [Image I],
and ornamental tiles were among the first tin-glazed wares exported
to Europe from the East. Kashan panels, comprising star or hexagonal
tessellation [Image II], were so popular in 13th-century Persia
that the word kashani became synonymous with tiles, and eventually
in the Middle East came to denote any tin-glazed earthenware.
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