INDIA, CIRCA 1630-40

Whilst the illumination here feels almost Shirazi in style, the floral flourishes on the gold ground around the calligraphy are typical of the Mughal court workshops from circa 1610-15. Similar floral decoration is found on folios of albums made for Shah Jahan. One such folio in the Victoria and Albert Museum, from the Minto Album, had similar illumination signed by Dawlat (IM.12a-1925; Susan Stronge (ed.), The Great Mughals. Art, Architecture and Opulence, exhibition catalogue, London, 2024, p.143, no.116). Two Mughal ‘unwans in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are very similar to ours in overall conceit and finer detail, and are attributed to circa 1630-40. They formed part of the Kevorkian album (MMA 55.121.10.39 and 38 and 55.121.10.40 and 41). The recto of f.39 and f.41 were decorated with grand shamsas one of which bore the names and titles of the Emperor Shah Jahan and the other the Emperor Aurangzeb (published Stuart Cary Welch, Annemarie Schimmel, Marie L. Swietochowski and Wheeler M. Thackston, The Emperors’ Album. Images of Mughal India, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1987, pp.83-85). It is very likely that our bifolio similarly came from a royal album. The illumination on Kevorkian examples surrounded the opening paragraphs from a treatise on calligraphy by Mir ‘Ali.

The text on our bifolio comes from a prayer book. It begins with the fatiha and continues with blessings on the Prophet. There are minor mistakes in the Arabic, suggesting that it was copied by someone from Iran or India, for whom Arabic was not the native tongue.