Lot 63
63
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)
2 More
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)
5 More
THE COLLECTION OF PAUL RICHARD LOEWI (1879-1939) AND HIS DAUGHTER ERICA (1918-1996)
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)

PROBABLY SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

Details
TWO ILLUSTRATED FOLIOS FROM A HAFT AWRANG OF JAMI (D.1492)
PROBABLY SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY
The first an illustration from Yusuf wa Zulaykha, opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, one line of black nasta'liq above and below arranged in four columns, four columns of further text written on the diagonal, five triangular gold and polychrome illuminated panels, set within gold and polychrome rules, plain margins with single blue outer rule, verso with text similarly arranged and a heading in white nasta'liq on a gold ground, mounted on card; the second an illustration from Layla wa Majnun, opaque pigments heightened with gold and silver on paper, 3ll. black nasta'liq above and 2ll. below arranged in four columns, four columns of further text written at the diagonal, five triangular gold and polychrome illuminated panels, set within gold and polychrome rules, plain margins with single blue outer rule, verso with text similarly arranged and a heading in white nasta'liq on a gold ground, mounted on card
First painting 5 1⁄8 x 3in. (13.2 x 7.5cm.); Second painting 4 ¼ x 3in. (10.9 x 7.5cm.); text panel 10 x 6 ¾in. (25.4 x 17.3cm.); folio 16 ¼ x 10 5/8in. (41.4 x 27.1cm.)
Provenance
Paul Richard Loewi (1879-1939)
Thence by descent to the current owner
Literature
Maggs Bros Ltd. Oriental Miniatures & Illumination, Bulletin no. 1, December 1961, no. 1-3 (illustrated)
Robert Hillenbrand, Imperial Images in Persian Painting, Edinburgh, 1977, pp. 23, 72, 84, nos. 29, 163, 192

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Lot Essay


The present folios originally formed part of a manuscript of Jami's Haft Awrang ('Seven Thrones'), a collection of seven epic poems in creative imitation of Nizami's Khamsa ('Quintet'). Interestingly, the manuscript from which the present folios were taken contained three poetic texts arranged side-by-side rather than successively. While Jami's Haft Awrang forms the core of the manuscript text and is the basis for the paintings, the outermost text is from Nizami's Khamsa, and the middle text remains unidentified. This particular arrangement, more often seen with two rather than three texts, may have been used to facilitate comparison between the texts.

An anonymous typed description which accompanies the two paintings states that they originate from a manuscript copied in Shiraz and dated AH 984⁄1576-7 AD, which seems plausible on the basis of the paintings.

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