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Persian painting with poetry, scrolling vines and animal heads
Safavid period
probably second half of the 16th century
Object Place: Iran
Medium/Technique
Ink, gold, and color on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 9.4 × 13.8 cm (3 11/16 × 5 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 and by contribution
Accession Number14.549
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts
DescriptionFragmentary page containing human and animal heads within vines (waq waq motif) and a line of Persian poetry in pink nastaliq script in a blue-bordered cartouche. Paper is flecked with gold.
InscriptionsAi sar-i to, dar sine-yi har sahib raz.
Translation: "Oh, head of thine, in every mean's heart is a mystery."
Translation: "Oh, head of thine, in every mean's heart is a mystery."
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).