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Lot Essay
Mirza Husayn Isfahani (1826 - 6 December 1912) was given the title mishkin qalam ('The musk-scented pen') by Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar who appointed him as tutor to Crown Prince Muzaffar Mirza. At this time he became a follower of the Baha'i faith and travelled to the Ottoman territories to follow the spiritual leader Baha'ullah, who he first met in Edirne. Although stemming from the 19th century Babism movement and the main Shi'a branch of Islam, the Baha’í Faith has gained a wide recognition as an independent religion advocating the oneness of humanity under a single God, guided by the teachings of Baha’ullah (‘Glory of God’).
Mishkin Qalam spent time in Istanbul and was imprisoned for a time at the request of the Persian Ambassador to the Porte. The Ottomans later exiled Mishkin Qalam to Cyprus. When the island was taken over by the British in 1878, Mishkin Qalam served as Persian secretary until 1885-86 when he travelled to join Baha'ullah in exile in Acre. Following Baha'ullah's death in 1892, Mishkin Qalam travelled to Syria, Egypt and India. He finally settled in Haifa until his death in 1912. It is during this later period of his life that the present calligraphy was made.
Mishkin Qalam was proficient with and wrote in many styles. He is known for his large decorative panels and in particular those, such as the present lot, depicting a bird announcing the dawn of the new faith. Two compositions of depicting two birds, although in both cases roosters, were sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2008, lot 244 and then at Sotheby's, London, A Princely Collection: Treasures from the Islamic World, 05 October 2010, lot 56. Another composition identical to the Sotheby's lot was exhibited in the exhibition Islamic Calligraphy: Sacred and Secular Writings in Geneva in 1988 (see D.L. James (ed.), Islamic Calligraphy: Sacred and Secular Writings, exhibition catalogue, 1988, no.49, pp.158-9)