Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Calligraphy from a Private London Collection
Lot 13R
A calligraphic album page, attributed to Shah Mahmud Nishapuri Persia, mid-16th Century
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£4,000 - £6,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
A calligraphic album page, attributed to Shah Mahmud Nishapuri
Persia, mid-16th Century
Persia, mid-16th Century
Persian manuscript on cream paper, six lines of text written in nasta'liq script in black ink and some gold, laid down on an album page with inner borders decorated in colours and gold, to left and right three cartouches containing nasta'liq text within cloudbands on a gold ground arranged vertically, upper and lower borders with further sections of nasta'liq text within cloudbands arranged diagonally and vertically, wide plain cream outer borders
text panel 152 x 78 mm.; album page 465 x 310 mm.
text panel 152 x 78 mm.; album page 465 x 310 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Private collection, London.
The text in the central panel is probably from the preface to a manuscript of Tuhfat al-Muluk. In the borders are couplets from a ghazal of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi; and above and below are couplets from Nizami's Khusraw and Shirin, and from a ghazal of Sa'di.
A label on the backboard has a handwritten note by Mehdi Bayani, attributing the calligraphy to Shah Mahmud Nishapuri, with a second note written by Karimzadeh confirming this opinion:
1. Signed by Mehdi Bayani: 'In my opinion, ninety percent probability, it is one of the illustrious writings of Shah Mahmud Nishaburi, 14 Bahman 1340 (3 February 1962)'.
2. Signed by Muhammad 'Ali Karimzadeh: 'Without doubt, it is one of the best and most illustrious writing of the master Shah Mahmud Nishaburi. It is undoubtedly a precious and beautiful piece'.
The label also bears a seal impression of Shah Abad, the College of Arts (dar al-sanayi') of Golestan. The picture framing of Tehranian. 1310 (1931).
Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri, also known as Zarin Qalam ('Golden Pen'), lived and worked in Tabriz for most of his life. He was a royal calligrapher to Shah Tahmasp (d.1574) and was without doubt one of the greatest calligraphers of his time, renowned for his 'perfect nasta'liq'. His recorded work is dated between AH 923/AD 1517 and AH 982/AD 1575. When the Shah lost interest in the Arts, Shah Mahmud moved to Mashhad and worked there under the patronage of Ibrahim Mirza (d.1577) until he died (Norah M. Titley, Persian Miniature Painting and its Influence on the Art of Turkey and India, London 1983, pp.84,103,105, fig.81; and A.J. Arberry (ed.), The Chester Beatty Library. A Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts and Miniatures, vol.II, no.179). For further information see Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va asar-e khosh-nevisan, vol. I, Tehran 1345 sh, pp.295-304, vol.II, 1346, pp.305-7 and V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, 1959, pp.134-137.