Kashikari

Painted and glazed ceramic ware, particularly tiles, common in the Islamic world, typically featuring colourful arabesques, floral and geometric motifs, and calligraphy on a white background. Shades of blue, green and yellow are commonly used. Kashikari (or simply Kashi) is widely seen on the cladding of buildings such as mosques, shrines and tombs in West, Central and parts of South Asia. The craft is thought to originate in Kashan, Iran — influenced by Egyptian and Chinese painted ceramics — from where it spread elsewhere, today being practised in Sindh, Punjab and Multan in Pakstan. It may derive its name from either Kashan, or kasi, Arabic for ‘glass’; Kashi artisans are known as kashigars — which is also adopted as a family name for ancestral practitioners of the craft.