Folio from a Zafarnama (Book of victories) by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi (died 1454); recto: text; verso: illustration: Timur grants an audience on the occasion of his accession to the throne at Balkh

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Zafarnama (Book of victories) by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi; right-hand half of a double page composition; separate from its facing folio (S1986.133.2); text: Persian in black naskh script with a few phrases in gold, blue, and red; recto: text: twenty-one lines; verso: illustration: Timur grants an audience on the occasion of his accession to the throne at Balkh (April 9, 1370); one of a group of three folios.
Border: The text and the painting are set in red and black rulings on cream-colored paper.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Ya'qub b. Hasan
Patron: Ibrahim-Sultan
Historical period(s)
Timurid period, 1436 (839 A.H.)
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 35 x 24.5 cm (13 3/4 x 9 5/8 in)
Geography
Iran, Shiraz
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.133.1
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
Henri Vever collection, Iran, Timur, Timurid period (1378 - 1506)
Provenance

To 1914
Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947), Paris, France. [1]

From 1914 to 1942
Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, purchased from Léonce Rosenberg, Paris, France on June 18, 1914. [2]

From 1942 to 1986
Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France. [3]

From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France. [4]

Notes:

[1] See Glen D. Lowry and Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 2: Ledger of Acquisitions, 1894 and 1907-17" in A Jeweler’s Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 236. See also Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 403.

[2] See note 1.

[3] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

[4] See note 3.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Henri Vever 1854-1942
Léonce Rosenberg 1879-1947
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Zafarnama (Book of victories) by Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi; right-hand half of a double page composition; separate from its facing folio (S1986.133.2); text: Persian in black naskh script with a few phrases in gold, blue, and red; recto: text: twenty-one lines; verso: illustration: Timur grants an audience on the occasion of his accession to the throne at Balkh (April 9, 1370); one of a group of three folios.
Border: The text and the painting are set in red and black rulings on cream-colored paper.

Published References
  • B. W. Robinson. Fifteenth-Century Persian Painting: Problems and Issues. Hagop Kevorkian Series on Near Eastern Art and Civilization New York. p. 14.
  • Sheila Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800. Yale University Press Pelican History of Art London. pp. 60-61, fig. 80.
  • Thomas W. Lentz, Glenn D. Lowry. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century. Exh. cat. Los Angeles. p. 104, fig. 38.
  • Henry Corbin, Paul Pelliot, Eustache de Lorey. Les Arts de l'Iran, l'ancienne Perse, et Bagdad. Paris. cat. 40, p. 151.
  • Eleanor Sims. Ibrahim-Sultan's Illustrated Zafar-nameh. New York. pp.177-8,185,196, figs. 1, 2.
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 285, pp. 252-253.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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