SAFAVID IRAN, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

Details

LOVERS RECLINING ON A CUSHION
Safavid Iran, second half 17th century
A leaf from a Mughal album, gouache heightened with gold on paper, the young woman reclining on embroidered cushions while her lover embraces her, later attribution to Reza Abbasi, the verso with four lines of fine black nasta'liq calligraphy, good condition, the calligraphy rubbed and with small damages
Miniature 4½ x 7 3/8in. (11.4 x 18.7cm.)

Provenance

Sir A.W. Robert Dent, C.B.
Sold Sotheby's London, 11 April 1972, lot 15.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

According to a note in the Sotheby's catalogue, this collection was probably formed by either John or William Dent, servants of the East India Company at the end of the 18th century.
Many of the miniatures in the collection bore inscriptions of ownership of Shuja'al-Dawla of Oudh (1731-1775), and this miniature may also have been in his library.

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