COPIED AND ILLUMINATED BY 'ALIREZA-YE 'ABBASI, MAZANDARAN, DATED AH 1022/1613-14 AD

Details

NUR AL-DIN 'ABD AL-RAHMAN JAMI (D. AH 898/1492 AD): SUBHAT AL-ABRAR
COPIED AND ILLUMINATED BY 'ALIREZA-YE 'ABBASI, MAZANDARAN, DATED AH 1022/1613-14 AD
'The Rosary of the Pious', the well-known didactic poem of theological, ethical and mystical significance, Persian manuscript on paper, 59ff., each with 12ll. of black nasta'liq in clouds reserved against a gold ground with pink and blue illumination, gold and polychrome illuminated intercolumnar division, titles in white on gold panels with polychrome floral illumination, text panels laid down between gold and polychrome rules on salmon paper with elaborate gold illumination of real and mythical animals and foliage, opening bifolio with dense gold and polychrome illumination and the text in clouds reserved against gold with blue floral scrolls, colophon signed 'Alireza Abbasi in Sari and dated 1022, with 5 later Qajar miniatures, a few folios loose in binding, some creasing and smudging, a few text panels beginning to come out of their margins, in worn Safavid black morocco with central gilt stamped panel and borders, doublures of red morocco with cobalt central panel and borders
Folio 9½ x 5¼in. (24 x 13.4cm.); text panel 5½ x 3in. (14 x 7.5cm.)

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Lot Essay

The colophon of this manuscript states that 'Alireza-ye 'Abbasi was responsible for the copying, illustrating and illuminating of this manuscript and that the above was completed in Sari (Mazandaran). Although there are no longer any original miniatures remaining in the manuscript, it is possible that they were painted over in the Qajar period. There are various accounts on 'Alireza-ye 'Abbasi. Both Bayani and Karimzadeh believe that there were two artists with such a name - one a calligrapher, the other a painter. This manuscript shows that there was an 'Alireza-ye 'Abbasi who was a calligrapher and illuminater as well as a painter (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. II, Tehran 1346 sh, pp. 456-61 and Vol. VI, p. 109 and M. Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives and Works of Old Painters of Iran, Vol. I, 1985, pp. 385-6).

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