Details
A peri
attributed to Shah Quli
Turkey, Qazvin style, mid-16th century

finely drawn in ink heightened with gold on paper, wearing loose fitting robes ornately decorated at sleeves and neck and a leafy hat, the winged figure holds out a gold covered book, later erroneously inscribed at lower right 'Bihzad' with the date 915 (1509-10 AD), (light creasing, one small repaired tear), blue and gold border within red and black margins and black rules, on buff leaf painted in gold and pink with a forest scene, on cream outer leaf, mounted, framed and glazed
miniature 4¾ x 2½in. (12 x 6.4cm.)

Lot Essay

Persian artists who went to work in the Ottoman ateliers occasionally imposed their style, completely intact, on paintings. The treatment of the clothing, particularly the collar, is typical of Shah Quli, one such artist. Another drawing of a peri by the artist is published in Petsopoulos, Y. (ed.): Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans, London 1982, no. 190, p.197.
For other Turkish drawings in Persian style see Robinson, B.W. (ed.): Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book, London 1976, no.III.347, p.202, pl.79; Atil, E.: The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Washington 1987, nos 48a and b, p.103 and Petsopoulos, Y.: ibid, no. 189, p.197 and pl.196

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