Page 43 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

29
THE BATTLE BETWEEN NAWFAL AND LEILA'S ARMIES
SAFAVID SHIRAZ, SOUTH IRAN, CIRCA 1520
An illustration from the Khamsa of Nizami, opaque pigments heightened with
gold on paper, four columns of black nasta'liq above and below, the reverse
with 23ll. black nasta'liq arranged in four columns, set within gold and blue
rules, marginal notations in pencil
Painting 6¿ x 4¡in. (15.5 x 11cm.); text box 8q x 4¬in. (21.7 x 11.8cm.); folio 11º
x 7¡in. (28.5 x 18.8cm.)
£5,000-7,000 US$5,800-8,000
€5,700-8,000

PROVENANCE:
Estate of Rosamond Bernier (1916-2016)
Taken from a Khamsa of Nizami, this climactic scene takes place after
Majnun has been driven out of his city because of his obsessive passion for
Leila. In the desert, he is picked up by the army of Nawfal who swears to
unite the two lovers. However, when Leila’s father rejects Nawfal's overtures,
a fight breaks out between the two armies. After refusing to take part in the
battle, Majnun returns into the desert to pine after his beloved.

16th century Shirazi paintings can be identified not only by the slender
figures and dynamic compositions, but also by the way in which the setting
is rendered. In a Shahnama in the John Rylands Library in Manchester dated
to 1542, the action also takes place against flat ivory landscapes scattered
with red flowers, with a high horizon that looks onto an indigo sky of golden
wispy clouds (B. W. Robinson, Persian Paintings in the John Rylands Library,
London, 1980, p.163). Similar landscapes can be found in a 1513 Gulistan in
the British Library (N. M. Titley, Persian Miniature Painting, London, 1983,
p.97). A complete Khamsa manuscript, dated to AH 940/1533 AD and with
22 illustrations painted in a similar style, sold in these Rooms, Anon. sale, 26
April 2005, lot 115

θ30
MINIATURE QUR'AN
HERAT, SIGNED MUHAMMAD AL-QARI(?), DATED MUHARRAM AH
963/NOVEMBER 1555 AD
Octagonal format, Arabic manuscript on paper, 427ff. plus four flyleaves each
folio with 14ll. of black naskh micrography within blue and gold circular rules,
gold circle verse markers, catchwords, sura titles in gold thuluth, the opening
bifolium with gold and polychrome sunburst illumination enclosing 6ll. of black
naskh, the closing folio with gold drawing, colophon signed and dated, the dark
green leather binding with gilt design, the doublures in green dyed paper with
plant motifs, in silver octagonal box
29 Text panel 1º in. (3.2cm.) diam.; folio 1æin. x 1æin. (4.3cm x 4.3cm.)
£15,000-25,000 US$18,000-29,000
€18,000-28,000

PROVENANCE:
By repute, Esma Sultan (d.1899), daughter of Sultan Abdulaziz (d.1876),
bequeathed to
Huseyin Hayreddine Beyefendi, Istanbul, (d.1956), bequeathed to
Saadeddine Mohamed Beyefendi (d. 1976), bequeathed to
Saadeddine Mohamed Bey Osmansoy (b. 1930)
INSCRIPTIONS:
The box is engraved on the outer cover with the words 'mushaf sharif'

Miniature qur'ans such as our example often served as talismans and worn
around the neck or carried on long journeys for protection. They became
popular from the seventeenth century onwards and sixteenth century
examples are rare. Travelers also wore them as good-luck charms. The silver
30 banner box is nineteenth century. A similar sixteenth century miniature
Safavid Qur'an was sold at Sotheby's London, 1 May 2019, lot 17.

40 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 41
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.