Folio from a Khusraw u Shirin by Nizami (d.1209); recto: Sun-burst medallion (Shamsa); verso: text and illuminated heading (sarlawh)

citation

Detached folio from the Khusraw u Shirin from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script ; recto: roundel (shamsa); verso: text with one main illuminated heading (sarlawh) inscribed with white ornamental “eastern kufic”; 4 columns; one of a group of 7 detached folios (F1931-37) from the manuscript (F1931.29) and the book binding (F 1931.30); accessioned separately.
Border: The recto is set in gold, green and blue rulings on gold-sprinkled paper; the verso is set in gold rulings with a blue outer frame of floral and tendril motifs on gold-sprinkled paper.

Maker(s): Calligrapher: Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani

Historical period(s): Jalayirid period, ca. 1400

Medium: Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Dimensions: H x W: 30.8 x 21.3 cm (12 1/8 x 8 3/8 in)

Geography: Iran

Credit Line: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

Accession Number: F1931.37

On View Location: Currently not on view

Classification(s): Manuscript

Type: Detached manuscript folio

Keywords: eastern kufic script, illumination, Iran, Jalayirid dynasty (1340 - 1432), medallion, shamsa

Provenance

To 1931
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York to 1931 [1]

From 1931
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York in 1931 [2]

Notes:

[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s): Hagop Kevorkian 1872 - 1962

Description: Detached folio from the Khusraw u Shirin from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script ; recto: roundel (shamsa); verso: text with one main illuminated heading (sarlawh) inscribed with white ornamental "eastern kufic"; 4 columns; one of a group of 7 detached folios (F1931-37) from the manuscript (F1931.29) and the book binding (F 1931.30); accessioned separately.
Border: The recto is set in gold, green and blue rulings on gold-sprinkled paper; the verso is set in gold rulings with a blue outer frame of floral and tendril motifs on gold-sprinkled paper.

Published References

Dr. Esin Atil. Exhibition of 2500 Years of Persian Art. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 7, pp. 1, 3.
Oleg Akimushkin Priscilla P. Soucek. The Arts of the Book in Central Asia: 14th - 16th Centuries. London and Paris. pp.10, 19, 35,39, pl. 1, pl. 5.
B. W. Robinson. Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues. Hagop Kevorkian Series on Near Eastern Art and Civilization New York. p. 4.
Sheila Blair. Islamic Calligraphy. Edinburgh. pl. 7.15.
Freer Gallery of Art. Gallery Book I: Exhibition of July 19, 1933. Washington, July 19, 1933. .