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Page of calligraphy, lion and male figure
Safavid period
second half of 16th century
Object Place: Iran
Medium/Technique
Opaque watercolor, gold and ink on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 45.5 × 30 cm (17 15/16 × 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 and by contribution
Accession Number14.583
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts
DescriptionPage of an album with a self-portrait of the artist Muhammadi, a drawing of a chained lion by Amir Ali Sher and several calligraphic specimens.
InscriptionsCalligraphy at top in cursive nasta'liq ("hanging") script, signed by Shah Mahmud Nishapuri (died 1564-5): verses from Ghazal 857 of the Diwan of Kamal al-Din Mas'ud Khajandi, known as Sheikh Kamal and Kamal Khojandi. Calligraphic border with verses from the second part of the Iskandarnama (38th part). Calligraphy at left in nasta'liq script, signed in lower triangle by Mir Ali. Verses from the 8th article, section 36 in Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Haft Awrang of Jami. Later inscriptions on painting of standing man: "Portrait of Muhammadi done by Muhammadi." On painting of lion: "Done by Amir Ali Sher."
Seal of "Abbas" (Shah Abbas I, ruled 1587-1629), dated equivalent to 1587, at upper right of painting of standing man.
Seal of "Abbas" (Shah Abbas I, ruled 1587-1629), dated equivalent to 1587, at upper right of painting of standing man.
ProvenanceBy 1912, Victor Goloubew (b. 1879 - d. 1945), Paris [see note 1]; 1914, sold by Goloubew through M. Meyer-Riefstahl to the MFA for $76,999.81 (total price for 14.532-700). (Accession Date: June 4, 1914)
NOTES:
[1] Victor Goloubew was born in Russia but lived in Paris by the time of this acquisition. He formed this collection of Persian and Indian miniature paintings and exhibited it at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1912 to 1914 (Paull, Florence Virginia. "The Goloubew Collection of Persian and Indian Paintings." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin. Vol. XIII. No. 74. (February 1915) 1-16).
NOTES:
[1] Victor Goloubew was born in Russia but lived in Paris by the time of this acquisition. He formed this collection of Persian and Indian miniature paintings and exhibited it at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1912 to 1914 (Paull, Florence Virginia. "The Goloubew Collection of Persian and Indian Paintings." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin. Vol. XIII. No. 74. (February 1915) 1-16).