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Lot Essay
The inscription next to the painting is undeciphered.
The illustrations of the manuscripts produced in Ilkhanid Iran in the early 14th century were an eclectic blend of different traditions, chiefly those of China and Iran, indicative of the Chinese artistic penetration into Iran. In the present miniature, as with a number produced under Rashid al-Din (circa 1247-1313) and his son Ghiyath al-Din, these influences are clear. In the sharp facial features and the costume with its flowing red robes and pointed black shoes, this dervish resembles the characters from the manuscript of the Jami' al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din, which is dated AH 714/1314 AD. The traditional Chinese fashion of concealing their hands in their sleeves (also a trait of dervishes) is a feature that is frequently illustrated in the Chinese emperors of the Jami' al-Tawarikh (see for example Basil Gray, The World History of Rashid al-Din, London, 1978, plate 13 (a)) and that is similarly treated in the present miniature with the direct and simple lines and the careful draping and folding of the robes. These influences are not confined to miniature painting; if we look to the drawing of the figures on the Mina'i pottery bowl in the following lot, the same treatment of the figures is apparent.
The illustrations of the manuscripts produced in Ilkhanid Iran in the early 14th century were an eclectic blend of different traditions, chiefly those of China and Iran, indicative of the Chinese artistic penetration into Iran. In the present miniature, as with a number produced under Rashid al-Din (circa 1247-1313) and his son Ghiyath al-Din, these influences are clear. In the sharp facial features and the costume with its flowing red robes and pointed black shoes, this dervish resembles the characters from the manuscript of the Jami' al-Tawarikh of Rashid al-Din, which is dated AH 714/1314 AD. The traditional Chinese fashion of concealing their hands in their sleeves (also a trait of dervishes) is a feature that is frequently illustrated in the Chinese emperors of the Jami' al-Tawarikh (see for example Basil Gray, The World History of Rashid al-Din, London, 1978, plate 13 (a)) and that is similarly treated in the present miniature with the direct and simple lines and the careful draping and folding of the robes. These influences are not confined to miniature painting; if we look to the drawing of the figures on the Mina'i pottery bowl in the following lot, the same treatment of the figures is apparent.