A CALLIGRAPHIC EXERCISE IN SHIKASTEH TA'LIQ SCRIPT

SIGNED IKHTIYAR AL-MUNSHI, SAFAVID HERAT, 16TH CENTURY

Details

A CALLIGRAPHIC EXERCISE IN SHIKASTEH TA'LIQ SCRIPT
SIGNED IKHTIYAR AL-MUNSHI, SAFAVID HERAT, 16TH CENTURY
Persian manuscript on paper, with 6ll. of shikasteh ta'liq script, each line with three gold roundels above, bottom right hand corner signed Ikhtiyar al-Munshi, laid down between gold and black rules on buff paper with nasta'liq inscription above, creasing and smudging, signature partially flaked
Calligraphy 7 x 4 5/8in. (18.5 x 12cm.)

Lot Essay

Khwaja Ikhtiyar al-Munshi is the most famous calligrapher of the style known as shikasteh ta'liq. He was a native of Herat and for 30 years he composed the correspondances of Sultan Khudabanda, son of Shah Tahmasp, who was the Governor of Khorassan (Qazi Mir Ahmad Munshi Qomi, Golestan-e honar, ed. A. Soheyli-Khwansari, Tehran 1352, p. 49 and V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, A Treatise by Qadi Ahmed son of Mir-Munshi, Washington 1959, p. 91).

A manuscript signed by Ikhtiyar al-Munshi and dated August 1508 AD was sold in Christie's, London, 8 October 2008, lot 322. A concertina album with his signature was sold in Sotheby's, London, 14 April 2010, lot 50.

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