Page 31 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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BAYAZID BASTAMI AND THE YOUTH KHIZRAVAYH BIN SHAYKH
AHMAD
SAFAVID SHIRAZ, CIRCA 1570
From Sultan Husayn Bayqara's Majlis al-'Ushaq, opaque pigments heightened
with gold on paper, illustrating a gathering (majlis) of five men in an interior
setting, with 7ll. of black nasta'liq on gold-speckled ground above, the back
with 14ll. of nasta’liq in two columns
Painting 7 x 4æin. (18 x 12cm.); folio 9º x 6ºin. (23.5 x 16cm.)
£4,000-6,000 US$5,600-8,400
€4,700-6,900
The theme of the Majlis al-'Ushaq is that of 'real' (or ideal) and 'metaphorical'
(or material) love, presenting the latter as a route to the former. This copy
consists of an account of the lives of sixty Sufis and sixteen rulers of Persia,
including for almost every one, a description of the individual's love. The
scene of our painting decpits Bayazis Bastami who allegedly fell in love with
the beautiful and intelligent son of the famous Shaykh Ahmad of Balkh.
Although the work is usually attributed to the Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn
Baiqara (and it is indeed he who is named in the preface as the author of the
work), some authorities (see C.A.Storey, Persian Literature, London, 1972,
p.961) say that it was in fact written by Kamal al-Din Husain Gazargahi, a
courtier involved in the religious establishment perhaps as an assistant to the
Sultan.
Another folio from this manuscirpt is in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva
(inv. 1971-107/498).

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ZULAYKHA BIDS FOR YUSUF IN THE SLAVE MARKET OF EGYPT
SAFAVID IRAN, 16TH CENTURY
Ink, gold and opaque pigments on paper, Yusuf depicted seated on a scale in a
market, with 2ll. of black nasta'liq divided in four columns on the top and at the
bottom, reverse with a calligraphic panel with 4ll. of nasta'liq written diagonally
on a gold sprinkled ground
Painting 8 x 5Ωin. (20 x 14cm.); folio 12 x 9Ωin. (30.5 x 24cm.)
£4,000-6,000 US$5,600-8,400
€4,700-6,900
PROVENANCE:
Private collection Connecticut
In the story surrounding this painting, Yusuf’s brothers, overcome by jealousy,
throw Yusuf into a well. He survives the fall and is freed days later by a
passing merchant who lowers a bucket into the well and, to his surprise,
brings Yusuf up with it. The merchant takes him to Egypt where he is put up
for sale in a slave market as depicted here. The wondrous beauty of Yusuf
causes tumult in the town but it is Zulaykha who watches the sale on a camel
in the upper left, who has the winning bid. Further folios and manuscripts
depicting the same scene are held in museum collections such as one in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc.no.69.114.3) and another in the British
Library (OR 4122, folio 76b).

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