Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Calligraphy from a Private London Collection
Lot 10R
A double-page, consisting of the first and last leaves from an illuminated manuscript of Persian poetry, with an attribution to, or possible signature of Mir 'Imad al-Hasani Persia, late 16th/early 17th century
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,048 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A double-page, consisting of the first and last leaves from an illuminated manuscript of Persian poetry, with an attribution to, or possible signature of Mir 'Imad al-Hasani
Persia, late 16th/early 17th century
Persia, late 16th/early 17th century
Persian manuscript on gold-sprinkled paper, two conjoined leaves, each with five lines of text written in fine nasta'liq script in black ink within cloudbands on a gold ground, inner margins ruled in colours and gold, the right-hand leaf with an illuminated headpiece in colours and gold, outer borders with gold foliate motifs on a light pink and green ground respectively, seal impression on each leaf, colophon on left-hand leaf possibly added
each leaf 260 x 173 mm. and slightly smaller; double page 260 x 340 mm.
each leaf 260 x 173 mm. and slightly smaller; double page 260 x 340 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Private collection, London.
The colophon may be added on the basis of its condition and the size and thickness of the pen. It reads: 'The humble 'Imad al-Hasani, may [God] forgive his sins, wrote it'.
The seal impressions are 19th Century, but apparently neither royal or of a titled official.
Mir 'Imad al-Hasani al-Husayni is amongst the most famous of the nasta'liq calligraphers of the Safavid period. He was born around the year AH 961/1553-54 AD in Qazwin, the capital of Safavid Persia. He later moved to Tabriz where he was apprenticed to the master Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi, moving back to the capital on completion of his studies in AH 981/1573-74 AD. Later in life he set out for the Hajj and remained in the region for several years, working in Aleppo before returning to Iran in AH 1005/1596-97 AD. His great rival as court calligrapher, 'Ali Reza-i Abbassi, gradually replaced him in the Shah's favour and, in the increasingly extreme Shi'ite environment of the court of Shah 'Abbas, he was accused of Sufism and Sunnism. He was murdered in AH 1024/1615 AD by an agent of the Shah.
His recorded works are dated between AH 972/1564-65 AD and AH 1024/1615-16 AD (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval wa Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. II, Tehran, 1346 sh., pp.518-38).