Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Lot 4†
Sultan Muhammad, known as La'li, Diwan, copied by Muhammad (Mehmed) Muhyi, and bearing the seal of Sultan Bayezid II (reg. 1481-1512) Ottoman Turkey, dated AH 880/AD 1475-76
Amended
23 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £6,400 inc. premium
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Oliver White
Head of Department
Sultan Muhammad, known as La'li, Diwan, copied by Muhammad (Mehmed) Muhyi, and bearing the seal of Sultan Bayezid II (reg. 1481-1512)
Ottoman Turkey, dated AH 880/AD 1475-76
Ottoman Turkey, dated AH 880/AD 1475-76
Persian manuscript on paper, 45 leaves, 11 lines to the page written in nasta'liq script in black ink in two columns, headings in thuluth script in gold, intercolumnar rules and inner margins ruled in gold, last leaf with the seal impression of Sultan Bayezid II, later owners' inscriptions to flyleaves, gilt-tooled binding with central medallions and cornerpieces, borders of stylised floral motifs, with flap, doublures of red leather gilt
225 x 153 mm.
225 x 153 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Perhaps formerly in the Imperial Library of Sultan Bayezid II (reg. 1481-1512).
The late Djafar Ghazi, Munich (d. 2007).
Christie's South Kensington, Indian and Islamic Works of Art and Textiles, 9th October 2009, lot 353.
Published
Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi, Fatih Devri Hattatlari, 1953, no. 32.
The seal impression is that of Sultan Bayezid II, though the manuscript's presence in the Ottoman Imperial Library cannot be confirmed.
This is a rare and early copy of the Diwan of La'li, the penname of one of the Mirs of Badakhshan, Sultan Muhammad, who was killed by the Timurid Abu Said in 1467 (see Annemarie Schimmel, A Two-Coloured Brocade: The Image of Persian Poetry, Chapel Hill 1992, p. 158). There are no other recorded copies of the text. This copy was written only eight years after the death of the author. The colophon is dated in Ottoman siyaq numerals. The scribe Muhammad Muhyi does not appear to be otherwise recorded.
The manuscript is recorded in the book, Fatih Devri Hattatlari (Calligraphers of the Reign of Fatih, i.e. Mehmed II), as being in the collection of the author, Ekrem Hakki Ayverdi, in 1953 (when the book was published). He misread the siyaq date as 800 rather than 880.
Saleroom notices
Please note that in both the printed and online catalogue this lot is missing a dagger symbol, meaning that it is subject to VAT at the prevailing rate on Hammer Price and Buyer's Premium.