SAFAVID AND QAJAR IRAN AND OTTOMAN TURKEY, 16 CENTURY AND LATER

During the sixteenth century the art of bookbinding in Iran and Turkey underwent many changes corresponding to the technological advancements in the arts of painting and other crafts of the time. This development involved a change in the techniques and styles used to cover the luxurious court manuscripts produced at the different centers of the Safavid court. The biggest transformation in practice was the introduction of a widespread use of stamping. Naturalistic designs were engraved on one large stamp while symmetrical designs, usually of floral nature were engraved on a half-plate which was used twice to complete the design. This method is seen on some of our examples. In most cases the join is visible along the middle.

For more expensive commissions, the doublures were often decorated in the leather filigree or découpé technique on painted lapis lazuli ground, which was a continued tradition from the Timurid period. Due to the fragile and delicate nature of this technique it was always used as a method of decoration for the doublures. During the Qajar period the production of gilt leather stamped bindings which were inspired by Safavid and Timurid patterns continued although a preference of lacquered binding became much more prevalent. A Safavid binding similar to one of the example in this lot was sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2018, lot 57.