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拍品專文
The calligraphy on this folio includes part of the burda of Ka'b ibn Zuhair and other Arabic texts, including a tradition of the Imam Husayn. There are two signatures on the folio. One is that of Munshi al-'Arabshahi, dated Jumada I AH 966 (February-March 1559 AD). The other is that of Muhammad Asghar ibn Mansur al-Husayni, dated AH 966 (1559-60 AD). Both say they were copied in Medina.
Two of the calligraphic panels on this folio carry dates of 1559. The illumination that frames the calligraphy owes much to the decorative repertoire developed in the imperial nakkashane of the same period, under the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66), and a similar date for the assemblage of the album page therefore seems likely. The illumination bears resemblance to that found on folio from an album in the Istanbul Üniversite Kütüphanesi, copied by Shah Mahmud Nishapuri and illuminated by the famous Kara Memi (Esin Atil, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C. 1987, no.49c and d, p.106). Like that folio ours uses a wealth of arabesques, cloud bands, hatayis and leaves, each painted employing a different colour scheme.
Kara Memi, whose name is found on manuscripts dated from the 1540s through to the 1560s, was known for his innovative style and introduced a new naturalistic concept into the decorative repertoire of the court studio in the first half of the 16th century. He used finely drawn roses, tulips, carnations and hyacinths, each with its own mystical or symbolic significance and probably inspired by the colourful palace gardens. These coexisted alongside the more traditional saz themes of his master Shahkulu. Indeed his influence, and the concept of a centralised design being established in the nakkashane in which he worked is evident when we consider that some of the small panels of illumination recall very much the patterns commonly found on Iznik - this is particularly evident in the small spray of hyacinths and carnations in the lower right hand side of one side of the folio. Atil writes that 'if one artist can be credited with the most significant contribution to Ottoman decorative arts, then it is Kara Memi, whose impact is still visible today' (Atil, op. cit., p. 56). It seems possible that our folio was illuminated by the master himself or otherwise by an equally skilled illuminator in his atelier.
Albums were assembled in the 15th and 16th centuries in the milieu of the courts of Greater Iran and Ottoman Turkey as ways of preserving and displaying art. For more on the art of the album see David Roxburgh, The Persian Album 1400-1600. From Dispersal to Collection, Yale, 2005.
Two of the calligraphic panels on this folio carry dates of 1559. The illumination that frames the calligraphy owes much to the decorative repertoire developed in the imperial nakkashane of the same period, under the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66), and a similar date for the assemblage of the album page therefore seems likely. The illumination bears resemblance to that found on folio from an album in the Istanbul Üniversite Kütüphanesi, copied by Shah Mahmud Nishapuri and illuminated by the famous Kara Memi (Esin Atil, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C. 1987, no.49c and d, p.106). Like that folio ours uses a wealth of arabesques, cloud bands, hatayis and leaves, each painted employing a different colour scheme.
Kara Memi, whose name is found on manuscripts dated from the 1540s through to the 1560s, was known for his innovative style and introduced a new naturalistic concept into the decorative repertoire of the court studio in the first half of the 16th century. He used finely drawn roses, tulips, carnations and hyacinths, each with its own mystical or symbolic significance and probably inspired by the colourful palace gardens. These coexisted alongside the more traditional saz themes of his master Shahkulu. Indeed his influence, and the concept of a centralised design being established in the nakkashane in which he worked is evident when we consider that some of the small panels of illumination recall very much the patterns commonly found on Iznik - this is particularly evident in the small spray of hyacinths and carnations in the lower right hand side of one side of the folio. Atil writes that 'if one artist can be credited with the most significant contribution to Ottoman decorative arts, then it is Kara Memi, whose impact is still visible today' (Atil, op. cit., p. 56). It seems possible that our folio was illuminated by the master himself or otherwise by an equally skilled illuminator in his atelier.
Albums were assembled in the 15th and 16th centuries in the milieu of the courts of Greater Iran and Ottoman Turkey as ways of preserving and displaying art. For more on the art of the album see David Roxburgh, The Persian Album 1400-1600. From Dispersal to Collection, Yale, 2005.