Egyptian Women Cut Their Hands at the Sight of Yusuf’s Beauty, from a Yusuf and Zulaykha by Jami (d. 1492)

Manuscript; Yusuf u Zulaykha by Jami; Persian in black nasta’liq script; headings in gold; 175 folios with 1 sarlawh (1 verso) and 3 paintings (fols. 73 recto, 94 verso, 118 recto); inscription (folio 1 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text; one of a group of two: the binding (S1986.55.2) and the manuscript (S 1986.55.1) are accessioned separately.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in brown leather over paper pasteboards, stamped with the name of Vever, with doublures of mottled yellow paper.

Historical period(s)
Safavid period, ca. 1565-1570
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 20.3 x 12.9 cm (8 x 5 1/16 in)
Geography
Iran, Probably Shiraz
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.55.1
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
Henri Vever collection, Iran, Safavid period (1501 - 1722), Yusuf, Zulaykha
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Manuscript; Yusuf u Zulaykha by Jami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; headings in gold; 175 folios with 1 sarlawh (1 verso) and 3 paintings (fols. 73 recto, 94 verso, 118 recto); inscription (folio 1 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text; one of a group of two: the binding (S1986.55.2) and the manuscript (S 1986.55.1) are accessioned separately.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in brown leather over paper pasteboards, stamped with the name of Vever, with doublures of mottled yellow paper.

Inscription(s)

Fol. 1 recto: "acquired by the sinful slave Halabizada Isma'il Asim. May God save him and his progenitors...al-Mahmud Muhammad; blessings, of God the exalted, and peace be upon him. Jalal year [A.H.] 1167 [A.D. 1753-54]; [attributed to] Waqari Yazdi; for pious ones there is no benefit except baseness in exile; teeth are more precious than pearls provided, they are still in the mouth."
Fol. 175 recto: "the book was completed with the help of the munificent Lord and ... [giver] of justice and divine guidance."

Published References
  • 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. 187, p. 159.
  • Marianna Shreve Simpson, Massumeh Farhad. Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran. Washington and New Haven. p. 369.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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