Page 77 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

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AMIR SHAHI (D. AH 857/1453 AD): DIWAN AND OTHER POETIC SHAYKH MUSLIH AL-DIN SA'ADI (D.1292): KULLIYAT
WORKS DEDICATED TO NASIR AL-DIN SHAH, SIGNED 'ABD AL-HUSAYN AL-
SAFAVID IRAN, 16TH CENTURY ISFAHANI, QAJAR IRAN, DATED AH 1275/1858-59 AD
Poetry, Persian manuscript on paper, 67ff. plus three flyleaves, each folio The use of gold-decorated coloured paper can be traced back to Chinese Persian manuscript on gold-sprinkled burnished paper, 292ff., plus three PROVENANCE:
with 6ll. of elegant black nasta'liq arranged on the diagonal and contained originals. This paper was imported into the Islamic lands when embassies flyleaves, each folio with 18ll. of black nasta'liq in two columns with double gold Mahmud Jam (1960), Prime Minister under Reza Shah from 1935-39
within a panel outlined in gold and polychrome rules, beyond this further lines were exchanged at the end of the fourteenth century. By the fifteenth century intercolumnar rules, titles in red nasta'liq, some within gold and polychrome Sotheby's, London, 24 April 2013, lot 25
of smaller black nasta'liq with poetry by Mulla Shirazi and Amir Khosraw, local artists had begun to produce their own imitations, which became illuminated panels, surrounded by black nasta'liq written on the diagonal,
catchwords, important words and headings picked out in gold naskh or increasingly elaborate in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Sheila within gold and polychrome rules, catchwords, five fully illuminated bifolios, The scribe of this Kulliyat is ‘Abd al-Husayn Isfahani, known as ‘Shikasteh-
nasta'liq, occasionally within clouds reserved against pink-hatched ground the illuminated closing bifolio with a dedication to Nasir al-Din Shah in gold Nevis’, ‘writer of Shikasteh’. The son of Aqa Muhammad Isfahani, he was one
with blue leaves, first 12ff. with delicate gold and polychrome floral illumination S. Blair, Color and Gold: The Decorated Papers Used in Manuscripts in thuluth, colophon signed and dated, lacquer binding with floral decoration, the of the outstanding shikasteh calligraphers of the period and was active in the
within triangular panels framing the calligraphy, opening folio with gold Later Islamic Times in Muqarnas, Vol. 17. (2000), pp. 24-36). As seen in our doublures lacquered with gold floral scrolls on red ground years AH 1230-1275/1814-1859 AD. Another Kulliyat of Sa‘di copied by him,
and polychrome floral illuminated headpiece with three wide pink margins manuscript, gold margins became more complex in the sixteenth century. Text panel 6 x 3ºin. (15.2 x 8.2cm.); folio 7w x 4win. (20 x 12.2cm.) dated AH 1251/1835-36 AD, was in the collection of Sayyid Nasrollah Taqvi
decorated in gold with fine landscapes filled with foliage and real and fantastic Many designs incorporate an arabesque, and some examples such as the one
birds and mammals and opening illumination possibly, misbound, in elegant seen here have birds and animals cavorting among flowers and trees. One of £10,000-15,000 US$12,000-17,000 Akhavi (see Jalal al-Din Huma’i, History of Isfahan: Arts and Artists, Tehran
Safavid brown morocco binding with gilt-stamped medallions, decoupé the most splendid examples of this art is seen in a copy of Nizami's Khamsa €12,000-17,000 1996, pp. 162-63).
doublures, associated flap made for the Safavid Shah Tahmasp at Tabriz in 1539- 43 (British Library,
Text panel 7½ x 3½in. (18.8 x 8.3cm.); folio 12 x 7¿in. (30.4 x 18cm.)
inv. No. ms. Or. 2265). For a further example of a Safavid manuscript with
£15,000-20,000 US$18,000-23,000 illuminated marginal drawings see lot 42 in this catalogue. The later owner's
€18,000-23,000 inscriptions on folio 1a attributes this copy to Mir 'Ali.

74 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 75
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.