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Lot Essay
Inscriptions:
Beneath the painting, kar-i tamam-i mir musavvir … mir sayyid ‘ali 'complete work of Mir Musavvir .... Mir Sayyid 'Ali'
The tradition of illustrating composite animals stretches as far back as the early Buddhist manuscripts of Central Asia. While examples such as this one are known from earlier periods of Persian art, they gained popularity toward the end of the sixteenth century. Here, used to make up the overall shape of a horse, are found images of demons (divs), men hunting with various weapons, and a wide range of animals such as lions, leopards, rabbits, cows, turtles, gazelles, dogs and monkeys. The meaning of such images is open to interpretation, but many scholars believe them to have mystical significance—likely referring to the unity of all creatures within God.
Our painting has been attributed to two prolific artists from the Safavid court, who were a father and son, Mir Musavvir and Mir Sayyid ‘Ali. This attribution is most probably in the hand of a librarian who at some point housed this painting in one of the royal ateliers. The dating of the work makes it unlikely that Mir Musavvir (d. 1555) was involved with the painting, but leaves possibility of the involvement of his son Mir Sayyid ‘Ali as he is recorded has having lived until 1572.
Mir Sayyid ‘Ali was one of the first Safavid artists to emigrate to India under Shah Tahmasp’s reign, at the invitation of the Mughal emperor in exile, Humayun (r. 1530–40 and 1555–56). After living in Kabul from 1540 to 1554, he settled in Delhi, where he gave painting lessons to Prince Akbar. The artist retained his high status in the Mughal atelier after Humayun's death and directed the major project of illustrating the Hamzanama (1562 to ca.1572). He died afterwards in Mecca. The fact that Mir Sayyid 'Ali was in Central Asia for 15 years fits in perfectly with the Bukhara style of our work, and supports the possibility of his involvement with this painting. Another possible artist who might have been involved in the execution of this work is Muhammad Sharif Musavvir, who was active during the end of the 16th century and known for his composite drawings such as the seated princess in the Sackler Museum of Art (acc. no. S1986.304).
There are a handful of Persian composite animals known, but our example is notably superior in quality and execution compared to the others. Our horse is almost identical in layout, design and the order in which the animals are presented to a painting in the Museum of Fine Art Boston which depicts a page leading a composite horse, dated to the early 17th century inv. no. 14.612 (see fig. 1).
Further examples of composite animals in public museums include an illuminated manuscript, selections from Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (Garden of Truth) by the poet Sana'i which includes at least four composite animals, and is dated AH 981/1573 AD, also in the Museum of Fine Art Boston, (acc. no. 09.324). Another example is a composite camel with attendant, dated to third quarter 16th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 25.83.6). A third example is a fantastic depiction of an elephant with two riders, Tabriz school, circa 1550, in the British Museum (acc. no. 1937,0710,0.328). A fourth is a composite horse and an attendant in a copy of the the Tarikh-e Farsi (see Heba Nayel Barakat, Treasures of the illustrated and illuminated Persia manuscript at the National Library of Egypt, Cairo, 2008, n. 41. Pl. 10-11).
Beneath the painting, kar-i tamam-i mir musavvir … mir sayyid ‘ali 'complete work of Mir Musavvir .... Mir Sayyid 'Ali'
The tradition of illustrating composite animals stretches as far back as the early Buddhist manuscripts of Central Asia. While examples such as this one are known from earlier periods of Persian art, they gained popularity toward the end of the sixteenth century. Here, used to make up the overall shape of a horse, are found images of demons (divs), men hunting with various weapons, and a wide range of animals such as lions, leopards, rabbits, cows, turtles, gazelles, dogs and monkeys. The meaning of such images is open to interpretation, but many scholars believe them to have mystical significance—likely referring to the unity of all creatures within God.
Our painting has been attributed to two prolific artists from the Safavid court, who were a father and son, Mir Musavvir and Mir Sayyid ‘Ali. This attribution is most probably in the hand of a librarian who at some point housed this painting in one of the royal ateliers. The dating of the work makes it unlikely that Mir Musavvir (d. 1555) was involved with the painting, but leaves possibility of the involvement of his son Mir Sayyid ‘Ali as he is recorded has having lived until 1572.
Mir Sayyid ‘Ali was one of the first Safavid artists to emigrate to India under Shah Tahmasp’s reign, at the invitation of the Mughal emperor in exile, Humayun (r. 1530–40 and 1555–56). After living in Kabul from 1540 to 1554, he settled in Delhi, where he gave painting lessons to Prince Akbar. The artist retained his high status in the Mughal atelier after Humayun's death and directed the major project of illustrating the Hamzanama (1562 to ca.1572). He died afterwards in Mecca. The fact that Mir Sayyid 'Ali was in Central Asia for 15 years fits in perfectly with the Bukhara style of our work, and supports the possibility of his involvement with this painting. Another possible artist who might have been involved in the execution of this work is Muhammad Sharif Musavvir, who was active during the end of the 16th century and known for his composite drawings such as the seated princess in the Sackler Museum of Art (acc. no. S1986.304).
There are a handful of Persian composite animals known, but our example is notably superior in quality and execution compared to the others. Our horse is almost identical in layout, design and the order in which the animals are presented to a painting in the Museum of Fine Art Boston which depicts a page leading a composite horse, dated to the early 17th century inv. no. 14.612 (see fig. 1).
Further examples of composite animals in public museums include an illuminated manuscript, selections from Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (Garden of Truth) by the poet Sana'i which includes at least four composite animals, and is dated AH 981/1573 AD, also in the Museum of Fine Art Boston, (acc. no. 09.324). Another example is a composite camel with attendant, dated to third quarter 16th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc. no. 25.83.6). A third example is a fantastic depiction of an elephant with two riders, Tabriz school, circa 1550, in the British Museum (acc. no. 1937,0710,0.328). A fourth is a composite horse and an attendant in a copy of the the Tarikh-e Farsi (see Heba Nayel Barakat, Treasures of the illustrated and illuminated Persia manuscript at the National Library of Egypt, Cairo, 2008, n. 41. Pl. 10-11).