Page 53 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

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A COMPOSITE HORSE
BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN, CIRCA 1560-70
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, later attribution below in
black nasta'liq, mounted onto a green gold-sprinkled album page, within gold
and polychrome rules, fixed to card display mount
Painting 5q x 7qin. (14 x 19cm.); folio 7æ x 9win. (19.6 x 25cm.)
£60,000-80,000 US$69,000-91,000
€69,000-91,000

INSCRIPTIONS:
Beneath the painting, kar-i tamam-i mir musavvir … mir sayyid ‘ali 'complete
work of Mir Musavvir .... Mir Sayyid 'Ali'

Page Leading a Composite Horse, Safavid period, early 17th century, Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, Bartlett Collection - Museum purchase with funds from the Francis
Bartlett, Donation of 1912 and Picture Fund, 14.612. © Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

The tradition of illustrating composite animals stretches as far back as the dated AH 981/1573 AD, also in the Museum of Fine Art Boston, (acc. no.
early Buddhist manuscripts of Central Asia. While examples such as this one 09.324). Another example is a composite camel with attendant, dated to
are known from earlier periods of Persian art, they gained popularity toward third quarter 16th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
the end of the sixteenth century. Here, used to make up the overall shape (acc. no. 25.83.6). A third example is a fantastic depiction of an elephant
of a horse, are found images of demons (divs), men hunting with various with two riders, Tabriz school, circa 1550, in the British Museum (acc. no.
weapons, and a wide range of animals such as lions, leopards, rabbits, 1937,0710,0.328). A fourth is a composite horse and an attendant in a copy
cows, turtles, gazelles, dogs and monkeys. The meaning of such images of the the Tarikh-e Farsi (see Heba Nayel Barakat, Treasures of the illustrated
is open to interpretation, but many scholars believe them to have mystical and illuminated Persia manuscript at the National Library of Egypt, Cairo,
significance—likely referring to the unity of all creatures within God. 2008, n. 41. Pl. 10-11).
Our painting has been attributed to two prolific artists from the Safavid
court, who were a father and son, Mir Musavvir and Mir Sayyid ‘Ali. This
attribution is most probably in the hand of a librarian who at some point
housed this painting in one of the royal ateliers. The dating of the work
makes it unlikely that Mir Musavvir (d. 1555) was involved with the painting,
but leaves possibility of the involvement of his son Mir Sayyid ‘Ali as he is
recorded has having lived until 1572.
Mir Sayyid ‘Ali was one of the first Safavid artists to emigrate to India under
Shah Tahmasp’s reign, at the invitation of the Mughal emperor in exile,
Humayun (r. 1530–40 and 1555–56). After living in Kabul from 1540 to
1554, he settled in Delhi, where he gave painting lessons to Prince Akbar.
The artist retained his high status in the Mughal atelier after Humayun's
death and directed the major project of illustrating the Hamzanama (1562 to
ca.1572). He died afterwards in Mecca. The fact that Mir Sayyid 'Ali was in
Central Asia for 15 years fits in perfectly with the Bukhara style of our work,
and supports the possibility of his involvement with this painting. Another
possible artist who might have been involved in the execution of this work
is Muhammad Sharif Musavvir, who was active during the end of the 16 th
century and known for his composite drawings such as the seated princess
in the Sackler Museum of Art (acc. no. S1986.304).

There are a handful of Persian composite animals known, but our example is
notably superior in quality and execution compared to the others. Our horse
is almost identical in layout, design and the order in which the animals are
presented to a painting in the Museum of Fine Art Boston which depicts
a page leading a composite horse, dated to the early 17th century inv. no.
14.612 (see fig. 1).
Further examples of composite animals in public museums include an
illuminated manuscript, selections from Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (Garden of Truth)
by the poet Sana'i which includes at least four composite animals, and is

50 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 51
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.