H x W (overall): 34.9 x 24.6 cm (13 3/4 x 9 11/16 in)
Type:
Manuscript
Origin:
Gilan, Iran
Date:
1493-1494 (899 A.H.)
Period:
Turkmen period, Aq Qoyunlu dynasty
Description:
Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: illustration and text, Rustam before Kay Khusraw under the jeweled tree; verso: text, four columns, twenty-three lines of text; one of a group of seven folios.
Border: The text and the painting are set in gold and black rulings on cream-colored paper.
Label:
When Bizhan fails to return to Iran, Kay Khusraw summons Rustam to court and receives him under a jeweled tree. In this painting, the Persian champion is dressed in his habitual tiger skin and seated on a throne next to the king, attesting to his rank and status among the king’s subjects. This illustration is typical of the fifteenth-century metropolitan court style with its emphasis on intricate compositions and subtle color schemes.
Provenance:
?-1942
Henri Vever (1851-1942), method of acquisition unknown [1]
1942-1947
Jeanne Louise Monthiers (1861-1947), bequest of Henri Vever [2]
1947-1986
Francois Mautin (1907-2003), bequest of Jeanne Louise Monthiers and Henri Vever [3]
From 1986
The National Museum of Asian Art, by purchased from Francois Mautin [4]
Notes:
[1] An accomplished French jeweler and collector, Henri Vever amassed a large and impressive collection of works of art during his lifetime. His holdings in Japanese prints and Islamic arts of the books, especially from Iran and India, were among the most important assembled in the early twentieth century. This object was in Vever's collection at the time of his death in 1942.
[2] Upon Henri Vever's death on September 25, 1942, his wife, Jeanne Louise Monthiers inherited the object. See exhibits F and G of Agreement of Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection, January 9, 1986, copy in object file.
[3] Upon the death of Jeanne Louise Monthiers, as stipulated in the will of Henri Vever, the family's assets were divided evenly between his two grandchildren. His only grandson, Francois Mautin inherited the collection known as "The Henri Vever Collection of Oriental Art and Manuscripts Including Persian and Indian Art and Manuscripts." This object is part of that collection. See exhibits F and G as cited in note 3.
[4] The Museum purchased the entirety of the collection from Francois Mautin on January 9, 1986. See purchase agreement, copy in object file. This work is part of the Museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection.
Research updated on June 27, 2024
Collection:
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Exhibition History:
In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia (March 19 to August 7, 2005)
The Heroic Past: The Persian Book of Kings (June 4 to October 29, 2000)
A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)
