Folio from a Rawdat al-safa (Garden of felicity) by Mirkhwand (d. 1498); verso: Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel; recto: text

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of a Rawdat al-safa fi sirat al-anbiya’ wa-al -muluk wa-al-khulafa (Garden of purity on the lives of the prophets, kings, and caliphs) by Muhammad b. Khwandshah (known as Mirkhwand); text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: text, one column, twenty-four lines; verso: Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel; one of a group of twenty folios.
Border: The recto is set in gold, red, and blue rulings on cream-colored paper; the verso is set in gold, red, and blue rulings on a paper with landscape and floral motifs.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Inayatullah al-katib al-Shirazi
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1571-1572
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 41.3 x 27.6 cm (16 1/4 x 10 7/8 in)
Geography
Iran, Shiraz
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Accession Number
S1986.238
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Detached manuscript folio

Keywords
battle, Henri Vever collection, Iran, Islam, Rawzat al-safa, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Detached folio from a dispersed copy of a Rawdat al-safa fi sirat al-anbiya' wa-al -muluk wa-al-khulafa (Garden of purity on the lives of the prophets, kings, and caliphs) by Muhammad b. Khwandshah (known as Mirkhwand); text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: text, one column, twenty-four lines; verso: Ali and Aisha at the Battle of the Camel; one of a group of twenty folios.
Border: The recto is set in gold, red, and blue rulings on cream-colored paper; the verso is set in gold, red, and blue rulings on a paper with landscape and floral motifs.

Published References
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 227, pp. 184-195.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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