Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209)

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; Persian in black nasta’liq script; 430 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 1 verso, 2 recto), 4 sarlawhs (fols. 129,196, 260, 382 verso), 25 paintings, 1 dated colophon (folio 430 recto), and a dated flyleaf; inscriptions (flyleaf); standard page, 4 columns, 19 lines; one of a group of 27 folios.
Binding: The manuscript was originally bound in leather over paper paste boards with gold embossed tooling, filigree designs over a blue ground, fore-edge flap panels with inlaid gold leather nasta’liq script, and doublures of lacquered papier-mâché, the binding has been removed, the manuscript is now bound in brown leather.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Murshid al-Shirazi
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1548
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 31.5 x 19 cm (12 3/8 x 7 1/2 in)
Geography
Iran, Shiraz
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1908.199
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
illumination, Iran, nasta'liq script, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

To 1908
Tabbagh Frères, Paris, to 1908 [1]

From 1908 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tabbagh Frères, Paris, through the Bauer-Folsom Company, New York, in 1908 [2]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

Notes:

[1] See List of Persian Books and Paintings, S.I. 1592, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

[2] See note 1.

[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Tabbagh Frères (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Description

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; 430 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 1 verso, 2 recto), 4 sarlawhs (fols. 129,196, 260, 382 verso), 25 paintings, 1 dated colophon (folio 430 recto), and a dated flyleaf; inscriptions (flyleaf); standard page, 4 columns, 19 lines; one of a group of 27 folios.
Binding: The manuscript was originally bound in leather over paper paste boards with gold embossed tooling, filigree designs over a blue ground, fore-edge flap panels with inlaid gold leather nasta'liq script, and doublures of lacquered papier-mâché, the binding has been removed, the manuscript is now bound in brown leather.

Inscription(s)

Flyleaf: Khamsa-i Nizami khatt Morshed Khushnevis [?].
"Khamsa-i Nizami by the hand of Morshed Khushnevis [?]."

Alah Akbar, khamsa sheykh Nizami, be tarikh seneh 1041 hejri [?].
“God is great, Khamsa Sheykh Nizami, dated [A.H. 1041] [A.D.1631]."

Colophon (folio 430 recto): Tam al-kitab be'un al-mulk al-vahhab al-mosum be Khamsa men kalam afsah-i al-mutekalemin shaykh al-'arefin va al-'ashegin mashhur al-afagh marazi al-akhlagh Hakim Nizami Ghangi alayhe va rahme va al-gufran afi tarikh khames shahr shaval sene khams va [khams?n] va tas'emaye al-bahriye ala yad-i aghal al-'ebad murshid al-katib al-Shirazi gafr zenube va setr 'uyube.

Published References
  • Abolala Soudavar, Milo Cleveland Beach. Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection. New York. p. 245.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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