Folio from a Divan (collected poems) by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir (d.1410); recto: Pastoral scene; verso: text

Detached folio from a Divan (Collected poems) by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script, headings in Arabic in red and blue nasta’liq; recto: Pastoral scene, figures in landscape, two columns, 14 lines; verso: text, two columns, 14 lines, 48 lines of marginal text; one of a group of 9: the manuscript, its separated cover (F1932.29), and 7 detached folios (F1932.31-37) are accessioned separately.

Historical period(s)
Jalayirid dynasty, Mongol period, ca. 1400
Medium
Ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 29.5 x 20.4 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/16 in)
Geography
Iraq, Baghdad
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1932.30
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
cow, divan, farmer, goose, Iraq, Jalayirid dynasty (1340 - 1432), landscape, Mongol period (1220 - 1380), poems
Provenance

From at least 1912-at least 1926
Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933), purchased from unidentified dealer in Constantinople [1]

About 1926-1931
Ownership information unknown

From at least 1931-1932
Jacob Hirsch, Ph.D. , New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

From 1932
The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York [3]

Notes:

[1] See “Miniatures from the Period of Timur in Manuscripts of the Poems of Sultan Ahmad Jalair” [book] (Vienna: printed for the author, 1926), p. 10, pl. I. See also p. 27, where Martin recounts buying the manuscript in Constantinople in November 1912. It is unclear when, or to whom, he sold it. Martin was a Swedish diplomat, scholar, collector, art historian and author. Martin documented his journeys in numerous books.

[2] See Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Grey, “Persian Miniature Painting: Including a Critical Descriptive catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March, 1931” [book] (London: Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 63 no. 36. The manuscript is “Lent by Jacob Hirsch, Geneva”, and “The last eight pages have the borders filled with line drawings and touched with gold and light colour. (These were shown separately at the Exhibition, mounted and framed.)”. Dr. Jacob Hirsch (1874-1955) was a collector of coins, medals, and classical art, as well as a dealer of archaeological objects. He had an eponymous gallery in New York, as well as businesses in Switzerland and Paris. See purchase file F1932.29 for J.E. Lodge letter to Dr. J. Hirsch dated April 9, 1932, wherein Lodge writes that he would come to New York to see the manuscript, implying it is already in the U.S. See also January 4, 1932 letter from M. Aga-Oglu, of the Detroit Institute of Arts, to Dr. Hirsch, noting that he had studied the manuscript and was enclosing it, with the miniatures, for return to Hirsch.

[3] The Freer Gallery of Art paid Dr. Jacob Hirsch in installments, the first on August 1, 1932, and the last on July 3, 1933, and marked approved on June 28, 1932. See object file for copy of invoices.

Research completed December 16, 2022

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Fredrik Robert Martin 1868-1933
Dr. Jacob Hirsch 1874?-1955

Description

Detached folio from a Divan (Collected poems) by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script, headings in Arabic in red and blue nasta'liq; recto: Pastoral scene, figures in landscape, two columns, 14 lines; verso: text, two columns, 14 lines, 48 lines of marginal text; one of a group of 9: the manuscript, its separated cover (F1932.29), and 7 detached folios (F1932.31-37) are accessioned separately.

Label

Among the Persian manuscripts in the Freer Gallery is a rare volume of poetry written by Sultan Ahmad, the last ruler of the Jalayirid dynasty (Iraq and western Iran, 1336-1410).  The sultan's poems concern mystical themes, extolling divine love and praising God the creator.  They are set off in this manuscript of the Diwan by eight delicate tinted drawings that seem to grow out from under the text panel and into the margins. 

Although these unusual scenes do not directly depict their nearest verses, they do evoke the idea of man's quest for spiritual enlightenment, a theme common to virtually all Persian mystical poetry. This particular scene has been interpreted as the first stage in the spiritual journey in search of Divine wisdom. This work also epitomizes the classical style of Persian painting that began to develop in the second half of the fourteenth century under the auspices of royal patrons such as Sultan Ahmad Jalayirid. 

Published References
  • Freer Gallery of Art. Gallery Book III: Exhibition of September 5, 1933. Washington, September 5, 1933. .
  • Armenag Sakisian. Persian Drawings I. vol. 69, no. 400 London, July 1936. .
  • D. Fairchild Ruggles. Islamic Gardens and Landscapes. Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture Philadelphia. fig. 42.
  • Fredrik Robert Martin, Sir Thomas W. Arnold. Miniatures from the Period of Timur: In an MS. of the Poems of Sultan Ahmad Jalair. Vienna. p. 10, pls. 1.
  • Tomoko Masuya. Illuminations for the Divan of Sultan Ahmad Jalayir. vol. 1428 Tokyo, 2014. p. 16, fig. 7.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran and India. Exh. cat. Washington, 1978. cat. 1, pp. 18-19.
  • Sheila Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800. Yale University Press Pelican History of Art London. p. 33, fig. 40.
  • Deborah E. Klimberg Salter. A Sufi Theme in Persian Painting: The Diwan of Sultan Ahmad Gala in the Freer Gallery of Art. vol. 11 Wiesbaden, 1976-1977. pp. 43-84, fig. 1.
  • Sheila R. Canby. Persian Painting. Eastern Art Series London. cat. 26, pp. 47-48.
  • Thomas W. Lentz, Glenn D. Lowry. Timur and the Princely Vision: Persian Art and Culture in the Fifteenth Century. Exh. cat. Los Angeles. p. 56, fig. 19.
  • Armenag Sakisian. Persian Drawings II. vol. 69, no. 401 London, August 1936. p. 59, pl. 4b.
  • Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson, Basil Gray. Persian Miniature Painting: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March 1931. Exh. cat. Oxford, January - March 1931. p. 63, no. 36, pl. 74.
  • Verna Russillo Prentice. A Detached Miniature from the Masnavis of Khwaju Kermani. vol. 27, no. 1, Spring 1981. pp. 64-65, fig. 5.
  • Timurid Art and Culture: Iran and Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century. Leiden and New York. pp. 85-87, fig. 11.
  • Robert Hillenbrand. The Use of Space in Timurid Painting. vol. 6 Leiden. pp. 85-86, fig. 11.
  • Richard Ettinghausen, Ernst Kuhnel. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. 6 vols., London and New York, 1938 - 1939. pp. 1965, 1988.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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