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Lot Essay
While later calligraphers are recorded with the same name, the signator of these fine bindings is likely to be the painter Muhammad ‘Ali Shirazi (d. AH 1285 / 1868-9 AD), a master of the popular gul o bulbul (‘Rose and Nightingale’) motif, the principal theme of the decorative repertoire of the Safavid (1501-1722) and Qajar (1785-1925) periods, variedly representing the lover and beloved (see Layla Diba, ‘Gol o Bolbol,’ Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online). He worked in the canonised style of Lutf-Ali Shirazi (fl. 1802-71) and was the father and first teacher of Ustad Muhammad Husayn.
Despite the sparse knowledge on the lives of Shiraz-based artists (Nasser D. Khalili et al., Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Oxford, 1997, Vol.2, p.124), the artist-writer Fursat Shirazi knew Muhammad ‘Ali and wrote in his Asar-i ‘Ajam that he: “Attained the utmost degree of perfection in flower painting (gul-sazi).” This praise is matched by the immense quality of our bindings.
The book bindings are likely to have been executed in the beginning of his career and join a binding and pen box dated 1824-5 and 1826-7, similar in style, in the Khalili Collection (MS211, LAQ205). The authors there also attribute to him a binding dated 1825-6, published by M.A. Karimzadeh-Tabrizi (The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran, Vol.1, London, 1985, pp. 364, no.635).
Our binding was made for Muhammad ‘Ali Khan Ilkhani Qashqa’i (d. AH 1268 / 1851-2 AD), the later leader (ilbegi) of the Qashqa’i confederation. Thanks to good relations with the Qajar ruler Fath 'Ali Shah (r. 1797-1834), he was appointed ‘Ilkhan’ of the Qashqa’is, the first time any member of the Qashqa’is was awarded this position. He was man of culture and learning with an inclination towards mysticism, and renowned for the probity of his administration. Muhammad Shah (r.1834-48) later grew suspicious of the growing power of the Qashqa’i in Fars and had him summoned to Tehran where he lived under guard for thirteen years. During the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah (r.1848-96), as a result of Qashqa’i support for the vizierate of Amir Kabir, he was allowed to return to Fars, where he died. He is buried next to the tomb that he had built for his spiritual master Shaykh Aqta‘ in Pir Bunab near Shiraz.
Despite the sparse knowledge on the lives of Shiraz-based artists (Nasser D. Khalili et al., Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Oxford, 1997, Vol.2, p.124), the artist-writer Fursat Shirazi knew Muhammad ‘Ali and wrote in his Asar-i ‘Ajam that he: “Attained the utmost degree of perfection in flower painting (gul-sazi).” This praise is matched by the immense quality of our bindings.
The book bindings are likely to have been executed in the beginning of his career and join a binding and pen box dated 1824-5 and 1826-7, similar in style, in the Khalili Collection (MS211, LAQ205). The authors there also attribute to him a binding dated 1825-6, published by M.A. Karimzadeh-Tabrizi (The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran, Vol.1, London, 1985, pp. 364, no.635).
Our binding was made for Muhammad ‘Ali Khan Ilkhani Qashqa’i (d. AH 1268 / 1851-2 AD), the later leader (ilbegi) of the Qashqa’i confederation. Thanks to good relations with the Qajar ruler Fath 'Ali Shah (r. 1797-1834), he was appointed ‘Ilkhan’ of the Qashqa’is, the first time any member of the Qashqa’is was awarded this position. He was man of culture and learning with an inclination towards mysticism, and renowned for the probity of his administration. Muhammad Shah (r.1834-48) later grew suspicious of the growing power of the Qashqa’i in Fars and had him summoned to Tehran where he lived under guard for thirteen years. During the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah (r.1848-96), as a result of Qashqa’i support for the vizierate of Amir Kabir, he was allowed to return to Fars, where he died. He is buried next to the tomb that he had built for his spiritual master Shaykh Aqta‘ in Pir Bunab near Shiraz.