Manuscripts16th century

Text folio (text recto; text verso of folio 23), from a manuscript of the Muntakhab-i Bustan by Sa`di

c. 1550-1600

Description

The manuscript opens with an exquisitely illuminated sarlawh above the text which is copied in two columns and 14 lines to a page in nasta`liq. According to the colophon the manuscript was copied by Mir Sayyid Ahmad al-Husayni who, based on a note on the first folio, was a pupil of Mir ‘Ali (Haravi). The text area is finely gold speckled. The binding is decorated with large plate stamped and gilt leather covers, and the doublures are decorated with filigrees over various colored paper ground; however, most filigrees have been damaged over time.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, colors, and gold on paper

Period

Safavid period

Century

16th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

22.5 × 15 cm (8 7/8 × 5 7/8 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.