ManuscriptsPersian16th-17th century

Illustrated Manuscript of the Kulliyat (Complete Works) of Sa'di

late 16th century

Description

The manuscript opens with a double-page frontispiece (ff. 2v-3r), each containing an illuminated roundel, providing the name of the poet and the titles of his collective works in this volume. The titles are written in riqāʿ script in white. The text begins with a foreword marked with a richly illuminated sarlawh on f. 3v, in which the author, who names himself 'Alī b. Aḥmad b. Abū Nasr b. Bīstūn, describes the reason for copying the Kulliyyāt in the current order. The text is copied in nastaʿlīq script in two text panels: the main one with horizontal lines and a side panel with diagonal lines. The longer one is 16 horizontal lines to a page and the shorter one is 10 diagonal lines to a page on the side. All the folios are remargined, including the two beginning roundels, which were mounted on paper at a later time. There are 14 illuminated headings and 9 large size illustrations in Safavid style. Each section begins with a sarlawh or heading and ends with a colophon. The final colophon page is missing and replaced later. The brown leather binding with a flap is decorated with cloud-band patterns on gilt-stamped centre and corners pieces and pendants on the outside cover. The inside covers in burgundy leather are decorated with filigree center and corner pieces and pendants over blue ground. On the flap spine there are three cartouches with floral decorations.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, colors, and gold on paper; gilt-stamped leather binding

Culture

Persian

Period

Safavid period

Century

16th-17th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

22 x 14 cm (8 11/16 x 5 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), loan; to Harvard Art Museums, 2015. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.