Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Lot 11•,R
Amir Khusrau, Iskandarnameh Persia, Tabriz, 16th Century
12 November 2024, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £4,000
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Oliver White
Head of Department
Amir Khusrau, Iskandarnameh
Persia, Tabriz, 16th Century
Persia, Tabriz, 16th Century
Persian manuscript on paper, 50 leaves, 17 lines to the page written in four columns in fine nasta'liq script in black ink, intercolumnar rules in gold, inner margins ruled in blue, gold, orange and green, titles written in nasta'liq script in white within illuminated panels, two illuminated headpieces in colours and gold, two 19th Century illustrations in Safavid style added later, one (near full-page) at the end of the first section, one (smaller) on the last leaf, Qajar lacquer binding in Safavid style
250 x 170 mm.
250 x 170 mm.
Footnotes
Provenance
Probably in the Qajar Royal Library, late 1890s (seal impression).
Christie's, Islamic Art, Manuscripts and Printed Books of Iranian Interest, 20th April 1999, lot 356.
The text starts with Amir Khusraw's Iskandarnameh, followed by his Majnun and Layla, both with illuminated headings.
The manuscript has an inspection seal impression of the Qajar Royal Library dated AH 1315/AD 1897-98).
A note on the front flyleaf states that this manuscript is written in the hand of Baba Shah Isfahani (d. AH 998/AD 1589). There is a seal impression of Shah Abbas Safavi on the same leaf, and on the last leaf, where there is also a note stating that the manuscript was inspected in Rabi II 1020.
On the last folio, in the inter-column section, written in gold, outlined in black, it says: 'Behzad painted it' (spelled wrongly). On the same folio, a note in shikasteh identifies the text as Majnun and Layla and attributes the hand to 'the master of all' (ustad-e kull) and paintings by Behzad.
A purchase note, dated Dhi'l-hajjah 1332/October-November 1914, for 20 tumans by Lutf 'Ali bin Muhammad Kazem Tabrizi in shikasteh gives the number of folios as 61, and attributes the hand to Baba Shah Isfahani. He also wrote two couplets in fine nasta'liq, again attributing the hand to Baba Shah and praising his hand. There are also two other valuations: 'Every folio one tuman' and 'Every head piece ten tumans'.
A dedication note to A'lam al-Saltanah (unidentified), in nasta'liq attributes the images to Behzad and is dated Shawwal 1334/August-September 1916.
There are added notes and inspection notes (on the opening folio and at the end of Majnun and Layla) dated Rabi II, 1020/June-July 1611, with a fake seal impression of Shah Abbas with the date AH 999/AD 1590-91.
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