SAFAVID ISFAHAN, IRAN, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Details

A NASTA'LIQ QUATRAIN AND A LEOPARD CHASING A BEAR
SAFAVID ISFAHAN, IRAN, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY
Recto with a nasta’liq quatrain in black, panels of smaller red nasta’liq in two corners, in a blue border with further nasta’liq panels on pink margins with gold floral illumination, verso with a pen and ink drawing of a leopard looking up at a bear in a tree, a tiny attribution in the lower left hand corner, laid down between pink borders with panels of nastaliq on blue margins with gold floral illumination
Drawing 6 1/8 x 5in. (15.6 x 12.6cm.); calligraphy 5 ¾ x 2 7/8in. (14.5 x 7.4cm.); folio 11 3/8 x 6 7/8in. (29 x 17.6cm.)

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Lot Essay

This charming scene shows incredible draughtsmanship. The artist uses two different types of brush – a thicker one for the heavy trunk of the tree and a finer one for the animals and the leaves. These features can both be paralleled in a drawing of a monkey-trainer on horseback, attributed to Reza ‘Abbasi and dated to circa 1605-10. That was formerly in the collection of Stuart Cary Welch, and sold at Sotheby’s, London, 6 April 2011, lot 81. A drawing of a man being attacked by a bear, in which the bear is drawn in a manner similar to ours is published in Sheila R. Canby, The Rebellious Reformer. The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi ‘Abbasi of Isfahan, London, 1996, p.49, cat.17. That is dated there to circa 1592. A similar depiction of a feline, described as a cheetah rather than a leopard, appears in another scene attributed to Reza ‘Abbasi and dated to circa 1590 (Welch & Masteller, 2004, pp.65-66, no.12).

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