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Ⓛ Diwan - Collection of poetry by Amir Shahi (d. 857 H. / 14…
See original version (French)
38
-
Ⓛ Diwan - Collection of poetry by Amir Shahi (d. 857 H. / 14…
See original version (French)
Estimate €16,000 - €20,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Ⓛ Diwan - Collection of poetry by Amir Shahi (d. 857 H. / 1453)
Central Asia, Bukhara or Iran, Herat, second half of the 16th century
Persian manuscript on paper, 39 leaves, 12 lines per page in fine, elegant black nasta'liq on a gold-flecked background, arranged in two columns separated by black and gold fillets. The text is framed by polychrome fillets and set in wide stencil-illuminated margins - the leaves are in a variety of colours (deep red, lavender blue, cream) - enlivened by a dense network of gilded floral scrolls, lotus flowers and stylised arabesques, enlivened by fine little animal figures: monkeys, fawns, birds and leaping creatures.
Illuminated polychrome and gilt frontispiece on the opening page; owners' notes and several seal impressions. Safavid lacquer binding with gilded decoration on a black background, depicting a floral landscape filled with animals and creatures.
Size of text panel: 14.8 × 8.4 cm (5.8 × 3.3 in.); folio: 25.3 × 15.8 cm (10 × 6.2 in.)
Provenance
Christie's sale, London, 31 March 2022, lot 3.
The present volume stands out for the exceptional freshness of its conservation and the refinement of its ornamentation: the subtle alternation of the coloured backgrounds in the margins, the delicacy of the marginal bestiaries - in which the figures of monkeys hidden in the floral decoration stand out in particular - and the beautiful lacquered binding with its animal decoration give the work the character of a courtly object, fashioned for a distinguished patron.
This volume can be compared with the richly illuminated Poetic Diwans produced in the great workshops of late Herat, Shaybanid Bukhara and Safavid Khorasan from the second third of the 16th century, where the Timurid tradition of marginal stencil illumination reached its ultimate refinement. The presence of monkey figures in the bestiary of the margins, an unusual motif, suggests either production in Central Asian workshops in contact with India (Bukhara), or production by a Persian illuminator who migrated to Mughal India under Akbar, as was common in the last third of the 16th century.
Amir Shahi Sabzevari (d. 857 / 1453) was one of the great Persian lyric poets of the Timurid period, famous for his elegantly refined ghazals. His Diwan was one of the texts of choice in the Safavid copy workshops of the 16th century.
A finely preserved Persian manuscript of the Diwan of Amir Shahi (d. 857 H. / 1453), in nasta'liq on gold-sprinkled paper, set within wide finely illuminated coloured margins of stencilled gold scrolls animated with delicate small figures including monkeys, fawns and birds. Opening with a polychrome and gilt frontispiece; first folio with later owners' inscriptions and seal impressions. Lacquer binding decorated in gold on a black ground with animals and mythical creatures in a flowering landscape; Iran safavid or Central Asia, 16th century.
The volume belongs to the great tradition of poetic manuscripts produced in the second half of the 16th century in the workshops of late Herat, Bukhara under the Shaybanids, and Safavid Khurasan, where the Timurid heritage of stencilled marginal illumination found its ultimate refinement. The presence of monkeys among the marginal animals - a motif less common in the strictly Safavid repertory than in late Herat or in Indo-Persian production - leaves open the possibility of a Bukharan workshop in close contact with the Indian subcontinent, or of a Persian calligrapher-illuminator working in Mughal India under Akbar (r. 1556-1605), as was frequent in the last third of the 16th century.
See original version (French)
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