TWO PAINTINGS FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF THE SHAHNAMA

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THE PROPERTY OF A LADYThe paintings in the following five lots come from a richly illustrated Shahnama produced in Safavid Shiraz. After the Safavids established their capital at Tabriz, Shiraz was reduced from a major court to a minor provincial capital in which many magnificent illustrated manuscripts were being produced by local artists in the unique Shirazi school style. This style is in fact a hybrid, making much use of local tradition, but also assimilating elements of many other Persian schools. It is characterised by a tendency to divide the illumination into geometrically defined sections, through the use of complex architectural forms painted in bright colours. In the scenes depicted in our folios, there is a strong element of narrative, one might almost say of genre; there is an enormous proliferation of pictorial details, some of them not even mentioned in the text; miniatures were now used not simply to illustrate a story, but to tell one. It is evident that these illustrations were executed by a group of highly talented court artists active in the Safavid court. A Khamsa of Nizami in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, signed by the calligrapher Murshid al-Shirazi, and dated AH 955/1548 AD bears extremely close resemblance to our manuscript folios in terms of the style of the figures, colour palettes, costumes, the layout of the scenes and patterns used in the interior and exterior architecture (inv. no. F1908.269). Another folio from the Khamsa in the Gulistan Palace Library also features figures with extremely close features to our folios (Masterpieces of Persian Painting, 2005, p.160).

TWO PAINTINGS FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF THE SHAHNAMA

SAFAVID SHIRAZ, FIRST HALF OF 16TH CENTURY

Details

TWO PAINTINGS FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF THE SHAHNAMA
SAFAVID SHIRAZ, FIRST HALF OF 16TH CENTURY
Comprising two folios, each painted in opaque colours heightened with gold and silver on paper, lines of nasta'liq in four columns, polychrome ruled margins, separately mounted, framed and glazed
Folio 12 ½ x 8in. (31.7 x 20.3)

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Lot Essay

The subjects of the paintings are as follows:
Rustam kills the White Div
Afrasiyab’s army is ferried across the Jihun (Oxus) river

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