Camel and keeper

Detached album folio: Camel and keeper with surrounding poetic verses, signature of Shaykh Muhammad and the date A.H. 964/1556-1557 C.E.
Border: The painting is set in red rulings with four couplets in gold nasta’liq script and two square panels in red nasta’liq inscribed at the top with the date and at the bottom with the name of Shaykh Muhammad, two illuminated frames with cartouches and quatrefoils, and an outer frame with cartouches of calligraphy in Persian black nasta’liq script.

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Maker(s)
Artist: signed by Shaykh Muhammad
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1556-57 (964 A.H.)
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (painting): 8.8 × 11.2 cm (3 7/16 × 4 7/16 in)
Geography
Iran, Mashhad
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1937.21
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Manuscript
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
angel, camel, Iran, saddle, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

To 1937
Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York. [1]

From 1937
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York. [2]

Notes:

[1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

[2] See note 1.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Hagop Kevorkian 1872-1962

Description

Detached album folio: Camel and keeper with surrounding poetic verses, signature of Shaykh Muhammad and the date A.H. 964/1556-1557 C.E.
Border: The painting is set in red rulings with four couplets in gold nasta'liq script and two square panels in red nasta'liq inscribed at the top with the date and at the bottom with the name of Shaykh Muhammad, two illuminated frames with cartouches and quatrefoils, and an outer frame with cartouches of calligraphy in Persian black nasta'liq script.

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Inscription(s)

Cartouche on the top of the page: "In the month of the year [A.H.] 964 [A.D. 1556-7]."
Cartouche on the bottom of the page: "Painted and written by Shaykh Muhammad."

Label

From the late fifteenth century on, in addition to manuscript illustrations, Persian artists created independent paintings and drawings that were gathered in albums. Consisting primarily of figural compositions, the subject matter of these works was at times inspired by direct observation, the artist's own imagination, or various poetic themes and conceits. Camel and Keeper, signed and date by Shaykh Muhammad, a celebrated sixteenth-century artist, relates to the surrounding poem, which refers to the taming of a haughty camel. The poem was also written and composed by Shaykh Muhammad.

Published References
  • Martin Bernard Dickson, Stuart Cary Welch. The Houghton Shahnameh. 2 vols., Cambridge, Massachusetts. vol. 1: p. 167, fig. 226.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Exhibition of 2500 Years of Persian Art. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 32, pp. 1, 11.
  • Carl J. Lamm. En miniatyr och en matta: En studie over sentimuridiska groteskmattor fran Herat. Stockholm. p. 5, pl. 8.
  • Smithsonian Institution. Report of the Secretary for the Year Ended June 30, 1937. Washington. p. 45, pl. 2.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran and India. Exh. cat. Washington, 1978. cat. 16A, p. 48.
  • Orient: Mille ans de poesie et de peinture., La petite collection. pp. 52-53.
  • Amy Briggs. Timurid Carpets: I. Geometric Carpets. vol. 7, no. 1 Ann Arbor. cat. 53, p. 53.
  • Armenag Sakisian. La Miniature Persane du XIIe au XVIIe siecle: Ouvrage accompagne de la reproduction de 193 miniatures dont deux en couleurs. Paris and Brussels. pp. 89-91, pl. 49, fig. 85.
  • , Massumeh Farhad, J.M. Rogers, Marianna Shreve Simpson. Persian Masters: Five Centuries of Paintings. Bombay. p. 100, fig. 1.
  • 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. no. 146, pp. 116-7, 134.
  • David Alexander. The Camel Through the Ages. vol. 1, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. p. 117, fig. 80.
  • Abolala Soudavar, Milo Cleveland Beach. Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection. New York. p. 236.
  • Chahryay Adle. Les Artistes Nommes Dust-Mohammad au XVI siecle. vol. 22 Paris. p. 243, n. 100, pl. 15, fig. 19.
  • Marianna Shreve Simpson, Massumeh Farhad. Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran. Washington and New Haven. p. 311, fig. 212.
  • Edwards Park. Treasures from the Smithsonian Institution., 1st ed. Washington and New York. p. 347.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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