SIGNED 'ALI REZA 'ABBASI, SAFAVID IRAN AND MUGHAL INDIA, 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES

'Ali Reza 'Abbasi is recorded as a calligrapher at the court of Shah 'Abbas and is one of the most famous calligraphers of the Safavid period (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Vol. II, Tehran 1346 sh., pp.456-61). Born in Tabriz, but resident in Qazvin after the Ottoman occupation of that city, he was first associated with Farhad Khan Qaramanlu, an officer at the court of Shah 'Abbas. He was then invited to the court of the Shah in Isfahan, with whom he developed a close relationship - acting as his librarian and accompanying him on his journeys around the realm. It was even reported that the Shah himself would hold up a candle at night so that the calligrapher could work. The favour shown to him by the Shah is reflected in his use of the honorific 'Abbasi. 'Ali Reza 'Abbasi was responsible for the inscriptions on famous monuments including the Shrine of Imam Rida in Mashhad and the Sheikh Lutf'ullah Mosque in Isfahan. His published work is dated between AH 1000 and 1025/1591 and 1617 AD although it is known that he was still alive in AH 1038/1628-29 AD (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Tehran, 1363/1984, pp.456-61).

Album pages signed by him were exhibited in the recent exhibition at the British Museum Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (Sheila R. Canby, Shah 'Abbas. The Remaking of Iran, exhibition catalogue, London, 2009, no.6, p.44).