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Lot Essay
The paintings contained within this manuscript are as follows:
1. f.35r. Shapur shows Shirin Khusraw's portrait
2. f.37r. Shirin entertains Khusraw
3. f.40v. The ship containing the treasure of the Byzantine Emperor is blown off course
4. f.47v. Age and Youth. This belongs to an earlier section of the Khamsa, the Matla' al-Anwar
5. f.69v. Khusraw and Shakar
6. f.77v. Khusraw visits Farhad disguised as a shepherd
7. f.93r. Khusraw and Shirin entertained by Barbad and Nakisa
8. f.96v Khusraw in discussion with wise men
9. f.116v. A crow attempts to pluck out Majnun's eye on the battlefield
10.f.122v. Friends visit Majnun in the desert
Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri, also known as Zarrin Qalam ('Golden Pen'), was already very prominent in the reign of Shah Isma'il, and subsequently worked as a royal calligrapher in the library of Shah Tahmasp (d.1574), first at Tabriz and then probably in Qazvin. Later he left the Library and moved to Mashhad where he worked under the patronage of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza (d.1577), where he died in 1564. (Shreve Simson, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang, Washington D.C., 1997, pp.254-269; Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol.I, Tehran, 1345 sh., pp.295-304, Vol.II, 1346, pp.305-7; V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, 1959, pp. 134-7). His recorded work is dated between AH 923-971/1517-63 AD.
The paintings in this manuscript are of a very high quality, although the hand of more than one artist can be identified. The most impressive are very close indeed to the paintings contributed by Mir Zayn al-'Abidin to the Shah Isma'il II Shahnama. In particular the paintings of "Shapur shows Shirin Khusraw's portrait" and "Khusraw entertaining Shirin" compare to "Zahhak enthroned" and "Sarw King of Yemen enthroned" in the Shahnama (B.W.Robinson, 'Rothschild and Binney Collections: Persian and Mughal Arts of the Book', in Persian and Mughal Art, exhibition catalogue, P & D Colnaghi, London, 1976, nos.19iv and 19vi, pp.33-37). Mir Zayn al-Abidin was the grandson of Sultan Muhammad who was also a trained illuminator (which explains the particularly ornate thrones). Very comparable are the palette, the scale and disposition of the figures, the small floral forms, the skyline of the rocks, and in particular the very prominent prunus and cypress trees forming the backdrop behind the figures. At some stage relatively early in its history, when such things mattered, it has had all the red qizilbash batons painted out that were originally part of the compositions. The work of Amir Khusraw was particularly appreciated in the Ottoman, Uzbek and Mughal realms (Barbara Brend, Perspectives on Persian Painting, Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah, London and New York, 2003). It is thus probable that the manuscript passed into hands outside the Safavid kingdom at an early date.
1. f.35r. Shapur shows Shirin Khusraw's portrait
2. f.37r. Shirin entertains Khusraw
3. f.40v. The ship containing the treasure of the Byzantine Emperor is blown off course
4. f.47v. Age and Youth. This belongs to an earlier section of the Khamsa, the Matla' al-Anwar
5. f.69v. Khusraw and Shakar
6. f.77v. Khusraw visits Farhad disguised as a shepherd
7. f.93r. Khusraw and Shirin entertained by Barbad and Nakisa
8. f.96v Khusraw in discussion with wise men
9. f.116v. A crow attempts to pluck out Majnun's eye on the battlefield
10.f.122v. Friends visit Majnun in the desert
Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri, also known as Zarrin Qalam ('Golden Pen'), was already very prominent in the reign of Shah Isma'il, and subsequently worked as a royal calligrapher in the library of Shah Tahmasp (d.1574), first at Tabriz and then probably in Qazvin. Later he left the Library and moved to Mashhad where he worked under the patronage of Sultan Ibrahim Mirza (d.1577), where he died in 1564. (Shreve Simson, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang, Washington D.C., 1997, pp.254-269; Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol.I, Tehran, 1345 sh., pp.295-304, Vol.II, 1346, pp.305-7; V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, 1959, pp. 134-7). His recorded work is dated between AH 923-971/1517-63 AD.
The paintings in this manuscript are of a very high quality, although the hand of more than one artist can be identified. The most impressive are very close indeed to the paintings contributed by Mir Zayn al-'Abidin to the Shah Isma'il II Shahnama. In particular the paintings of "Shapur shows Shirin Khusraw's portrait" and "Khusraw entertaining Shirin" compare to "Zahhak enthroned" and "Sarw King of Yemen enthroned" in the Shahnama (B.W.Robinson, 'Rothschild and Binney Collections: Persian and Mughal Arts of the Book', in Persian and Mughal Art, exhibition catalogue, P & D Colnaghi, London, 1976, nos.19iv and 19vi, pp.33-37). Mir Zayn al-Abidin was the grandson of Sultan Muhammad who was also a trained illuminator (which explains the particularly ornate thrones). Very comparable are the palette, the scale and disposition of the figures, the small floral forms, the skyline of the rocks, and in particular the very prominent prunus and cypress trees forming the backdrop behind the figures. At some stage relatively early in its history, when such things mattered, it has had all the red qizilbash batons painted out that were originally part of the compositions. The work of Amir Khusraw was particularly appreciated in the Ottoman, Uzbek and Mughal realms (Barbara Brend, Perspectives on Persian Painting, Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah, London and New York, 2003). It is thus probable that the manuscript passed into hands outside the Safavid kingdom at an early date.