Lot 2

A PRIVATE COLLECTION DONATED TO BENEFIT THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Over the course of 2012 and 2013 an extremely generous benefactor donated a very impressive group of Islamic and Indian works on paper to benefit the University of Oxford. Christie's was asked to handle the sale and we have been delighted that in three sales around £3.8 million has been raised to benefit the Bodleian Library and the Oriental Institute. The first 45 lots of this sale represent the fourth and final installment of this very generous donation. From its very inception manuscripts from the Islamic world have had their place in the Bodleian. When it was set up in 1602, the collection already included a copy of the Qur'an in Arabic, and the same year that Qur'an was joined by a Persian manuscript. Today the Bodleian's holdings of Arabic manuscripts stand at some 2,350 whilst there are 2,530 Persian manuscripts which include scientific texts, poetry and illustrated manuscripts. The Persian illuminated and illustrated manuscripts are a highlight of the collection. The present donation is made as the latest of a succession of generous gifts to the Bodleian Library, which is now the most important library in the United Kingdom for Persian manuscripts after the British Library. The donation is made with particular generosity since, rather than donating the works of art directly to the University of Oxford, the donor is using his collection to allow Oxford to achieve what they would like with the funds raised by their sale, with the agreed joint aim of furthering knowledge about and interest in Persian studies. Part of the money will go towards funding extra curatorial support for the Persian collections at the Bodleian Library, while further funds will go towards setting up a chair in Sassanian studies, the only such post in the United Kingdom. It gives me particular pleasure that Christie's has been asked to handle these sales. In 1935 my father wrote his B.Litt thesis on the Persian Illustrated manuscripts at the Bodleian Library. This was substantially updated and published in 1958 as A Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Paintings in the Bodleian Library, a book that is still the best reference on the subject. Both in my capacity working for Christie's and also very much in a personal capacity I am delighted that we at Christie's have been asked to help achieve this wonderful goal on behalf of the extraordinarily generous collector. William Robinson

A CALLIGRAPHIC PANEL

SIGNED 'ABDULLAH AL-MURVARID, TIMURID IRAN, DATED AH 903/1497-98 AD

Details

A CALLIGRAPHIC PANEL
SIGNED 'ABDULLAH AL-MURVARID, TIMURID IRAN, DATED AH 903/1497-98 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, comprising 2ll. of strong black thuluth above 2ll. of small naskh all written in clouds reserved against gold ground delicately illuminated with light blue scrolls issuing split palmettes, a strong cobalt-blue arabesque filled with floral spray running through it, a further 2ll. written on the diagonal in the lower left hand corner surrounded by two small panels of similar illumination, laid down between minor black and blue borders decorated with gold floral illumination and gold and polychrome rules on wide turquoise card margins, small areas of scuffing
Calligraphy 5½ x 9¼in. (13.9 x 23.4cm.); folio 10¼ x 14 5/8in. (26.2 x 37.3cm.)

Engraved

The thuluth inscription includes part of a Sufi saying in Arabic above verses by the poet Ibn al-Farid.

Brought to you by

Sara Plumbly

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

splumbly@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

Shahab al-Din 'Abdullah al-Murvarid ('The Pearl'), was also known by the pen-name Bayani. According to Sam Mirza, he was the son of Khwaja Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Kirmani, a noble of Kirman and minister of the Timurid court who was on one occasion sent as an envoy by the Timurid ruler to Bahrain, returning with fine pearls. Hence he earnt the nisba al-Murvarid. Shahab al-Din 'Abdullah was introduced to Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara when he was young, and soon rose to become the minister to the prince, replacing Amir Shir Nava'i in impressing the prince's seal on firmans. He was also a poet, musician and calligrapher at the court. On the prince's death, 'Abdullah retired from the court. When Shah Isma'il took Khorasan, he offered 'Abdullah a post. He turned this offer down but accepted the commission to write the Tarikh-i Shahi ('Royal History'). He is said to have been a pupil of 'Abdullah Tabbakh, and was highly accomplished in all styles, and second only to Mir 'Ali in nasta'liq. Sam Mirza reports him to have been the preeminent calligrapher in riqa' and tawqi'. He died in AH 922/1516-17 AD.

For his biography, see Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va asar-e khosh nevisan, vol.II, Tehran, 1356 sh., no.487, pp.350-52 and Esra Akin-Kivan, Mustafa Ali's Epic Deeds of the Artists, Leiden, 2011, pp.247-48.

More from Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including a Private Collection Donated to Benefit The University of Oxford, Part IV

View All