Fettered camel and keeper; reverse: calligraphy panel

Detached album folio; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; Fettered camel and the keeper, inscriptions; reverse: calligraphy panel, signed by Sultan Muhammad Khandan and Baba Muzahhab.
Border: The painting is set in gold and black rulings on beige-colored paper; the calligraphy panel is set in gold and green rulings in an illuminated outer frame with a narrow red frame on one side, on a cream-colored paper.

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Maker(s)
Artist: Ascribed to Bizhad
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, late 15th century
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 11.5 x 14.5 cm (4 1/2 x 5 11/16 in)
Geography
Afghanistan, Herat
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1937.22
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
Afghanistan, camel, illumination, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

From at least 1929-no later than 1937
Armenag Bey Sakisian (1875-1949), method of acquisition unknown [1]

By 1937
H. Kevorkian, New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

From 1937
Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from H. Kevorkian, New York [3]

Notes:

[1] See Ernst Kühnel “History of Miniature Painting and Drawing” in “A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Time to the Present”, ed. Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackerman [book] (London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1938), vol. III, p. 1864. 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. 100, no. 90, “Lent by Armenag Bey Sakisian, Paris”. See also Arménag Bey Sakisian, “La Miniature Persane du XIIe au XVIIe siècle: ouvrage accompagné de la reproduction de 193 miniatures dont deux en couleurs” [book] (Paris et Bruxelles: Les Editions G. Van Ouest, 1929), fig. 156 and p. 117. The miniature is cited as being in the collection of the author. Armenag Bey Sakisian was a collector and art historian, and an archaeologist who lived in Paris but worked extensively in Syria and the surrounding region.

[2] Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962) was a dealer and collector of Islamic Art with eponymous galleries in New York and Paris. See note 3 for details regarding purchase invoice.

[3] The Freer Gallery of Art paid H. Kevorkian in installments, the first on April 23, 1937, and the last on June 2, 1937, and approved on June 1, 1937. See object file for copies of invoices.

Research updated December 9, 2022

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Armenag Sakisian
Hagop Kevorkian 1872-1962

Description

Detached album folio; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; Fettered camel and the keeper, inscriptions; reverse: calligraphy panel, signed by Sultan Muhammad Khandan and Baba Muzahhab.
Border: The painting is set in gold and black rulings on beige-colored paper; the calligraphy panel is set in gold and green rulings in an illuminated outer frame with a narrow red frame on one side, on a cream-colored paper.

Inscription(s)

Top page, sawwarahu Bihzad, kar-i a'la-yi Ustad Bihzad
"depicted by Bihzad, outstanding work of Master Bihzad."
Reverse: . . . fath u zafar u dawlat u iqbal zi dahr / bada ba murad-i dil hama hasil-i tu" al-'abd Sultan Muhammad Khandan, harrarahu Baba al-Mudhahhib.
". . . conquest, victory, good fortune and success from the world--may all these come to you as your heart's desire. The slave Sultan-Muhammad Khandan, outlined by Baba the Gilder."

Published References
  • Richard Ettinghausen, Ernst Kuhnel. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. 6 vols., London and New York, 1938 - 1939. vol. 3: p. 1864.
  • The Home Forum. Boston, November 3, 1938. p. 9.
  • 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. p. 68f, pl. 49, fig. 84.
  • 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. 100.
  • David Alexander. The Camel Through the Ages. vol. 1, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. p. 118, fig. 81.
  • Stewart Desmond. Early Islam. Great Ages of Man New York. p. 178.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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