Four-tile panel with a compass rose, Tunisia, Qallaline, 19th centuryEarthenware with polychrome painted decoration of a compass rose in a circular medallion surrounded by plant scrolls furnished with four carnations arranged in the corners. Cardinal directions inscribed in Arabic in the branches of the compass rose. Dim. panel : 31 x 31 cm ; dim. tile : 15,4 x 15,4 cmSome chips, firing bubbles, traces of mortar . A set of comparable tiles is preserved in the Sidi Kacem al-Jalizi Museum. According to their owner, these tiles once lined the bottom of a basin. This, coupled with the decoration of a compass rose inscribed with the cardinal directions, suggests their function as a compass whose magnetic needle floated on the surface of the water in the basin. A small ceramic compass rose mounted in a wooden base, Seville, Triana, 17th century. On the back, inscription in pencil: "found in the Alcazar of Seville, May 6, 1876". Dim. tile : 7,5 x 7,3 cm ; dim. total : 13,2 x 13,5 cm. Chips, wood of the base cracked, needle not fixed. Similar tiles are in the Salcinès Collection in Seville. A pottery panel with compass motif, Tunisia, Qallaline, 19th century