SIGNED MIR 'ALI, SAFAVID IRAN, AH 957/1550 AD

Details

AN ALBUM OF NASTA'LIQ CALLIGRAPHY
SIGNED MIR 'ALI, SAFAVID IRAN, AH 957/1550 AD
Album of calligraphy, Persian manuscript on buff paper, 6ff. plus 1 fly-leaf, each with 2ll. of elegant black nasta'liq on gold-sprinkled ground, with 6 finely drawn figures interspersed amidst the script, with green and gold margins with black and blue rule and borders with gold scrolling pattern within outer margins of black and gold, opening line of gold and polychrome illumination, colophon dated 957, ownership seal on fly-leaf dated 1063, contemporary gold and polychrome lacquer binding with floral and avian design, doublures with tooled spandrels and central medallion, some repainting
Folio 6 7/8 x 4in. (17.5 x 10.2cm.); Text 2 x 4 11/16in. (5.1 x 11.9cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. Please note that the lots of Iranian origin are subject to U.S. trade restrictions which currently prohibit the import into the United States. Similar restrictions may apply in other countries.

Lot Essay

The identity of this Mir 'Ali is not known. Mir 'Ali Tabrizi, the so-called inventor of nasta'liq was an early Timurid scribe and Mir 'Ali Heravi died in 951 (1544-5 AD). There is however, a contemporary of Mir 'Ali Heravi who copied the Bustan of Sa'di for 'Abdallah Khan Uzbak the ruler of Bukhara in 970 (1562-3 AD) and signed as 'al-sultani' (royal scribe) and may be the scribe of this album (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va asar-e khosh-nevisan, vol. II, Teheran, 1346 sh., p. 516). A copy of Silsilat al-Dhahab of Jami also dated 970 (1562-3 AD) sold at Sotheby's April 1978, lot 163 may also be by the same scribe.

There are a few Royal Library notes and two descriptions of the manuscript, one identifying the scribe as Mir 'Ali Katib al-Sultani (The Royal Scribe) and declaring that the manuscript entered the Royal library in 1107 (1695-6 AD). The manuscript had however left the Royal library by 1156 (1743-4 AD) when it is registered as belonging to a certain Muhammad Talib. It entered the library of Najm al-Hukama in 1313 (1895-6 AD) and contains his seal dated 1311 (1893-4 AD) and was transferred from Najm al-Hukama's heirs to Lutf'ali ibn Muhammad Kazim al-Tabrizi in 1322 (1904-05 AD) (neither identified).

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