COPIED BY AHMAD AL-HUSAYNI, SAFAVID IRAN, 16TH CENTURY

Details

'ARIFI (D. AH 853/1449 AD): GUY O CHAUGAN (BALL AND MALLET)
COPIED BY AHMAD AL-HUSAYNI, SAFAVID IRAN, 16TH CENTURY
Poetry, Persian manuscript on variously coloured paper, 22ff. plus 1 fly-leaf, each folio with 11ll. of elegant black nasta'liq arranged in two columns with double gold intercolumnar rule, text panels laid down within gold and polychrome rules on wide gold speckled coloured margins, catchwords, headings in blue or white, opening folio with gold and polychrome illuminated headpiece surmounting 7ll. of text, colophon signed, margins and first and final folio with later owner's notes, stamps and sketches in pen, occasional spot staining mostly affecting margins, in brown morocco with stamped and gilt central cusped rosette filled with floral arabesque and issuing pendants, the paper covered doublures with the remains of gold decoration of animals in a landscape
Text panel 6¾ x 3 7/8in. (17 x 9.8cm.); folio 11 1/8 x 7 3/8in. (28.1 x 18.9cm.)

Brought to you by

Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

abutler-wheelhouse@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2372

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The Guy o Chaugan, also known as the Halnama of 'Arifi, is an allegory in which the ball and mallet are personifications of types of mystic love. The imagery is borrowed from the most popular game of the period, chaugan (polo).

More from Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds

View All