H x W (overall): 28.2 x 18.1 cm (11 1/8 x 7 1/8 in)
Type:
Manuscript
Origin:
Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Date:
circa 1540
Period:
Uzbek period, Shaybanid dynasty
Description:
Manuscript; Tuhfat al-ahrar (Gift of the free) by Jami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; headings in gold and red; 78 folios with a signed double-page frontispiece (folio 1 verso, 2 recto), one sarlawh (folio 2 verso), and a dated colophon, inscriptions and seals (folio 78 verso); standard page: two columns, 13 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards with gold block-stamped exterior covers; the doublures are of gold block-stamped and leather filigree over a multicolored paper ground. The envelop flap has a border identical to that on the upper and lower covers; the pages of the manuscript are mounted in multicolored borders decorated with gold floral designs and marginal medallions.
Inscriptions:
Front flyleaf, upper page: "8" underlined and written in pencil
* Front flyleaf, upper page: "No. 88 Oct. Homberg Juin 1931" written in pencil
* Front flyleaf, upper page: "trxxx 4 %" underlined and written in pencil
* Front flyleaf, upper page: "tia.xxx" underlined twice, written in pencil
* Front flyleaf, upper page: "Tohfat al- ahrar -- Boukhara en 1545" written in pencil
* Front flyleaf, upper page : " 'Le présent fait aux hommes pieux'" written in pencil
Front flyleaf, upper page: "5 miniatures tsprax" written in pencil
Front flyleaf, upper page, affixed to right corner: octagonal sticker with blue boarder and "tiapx" written in black ink and "2019" written in blue ink
Front flyleaf, upper page right corner: round white sticker with three digits, the first two illegible, the last one is 4
Front flyleaf, upper page affixed to right corner: round white sticker with "9" written in black ink
Front flyleaf, upper page affixed to right, near spine: oval sticker with scalloped edge, "Chenue Emballeur, 5 Rue de la Terrasse, PARIS" printed in red, "M. H. Vever" written in venter in pencil (Chenue Emballeur is a well-known art moving company that "served kings to commoners"
Verso of last folio, white paper glued to upper left: "88" stenciled in black ink and in pencil: " Octave Homberg"; "Henri Vever"; "1931"; "Boukhara vers 1545"; and "5 miniatures"
Exterior of binding affixed to spine, circular, white sticker: "H 88" written in black ink
Provenance:
Possibly to 1907
Possibly Octave Marie Joseph Kérim Homberg Sr. (1844-1907), method of acquisition unknown [1]
Likely 1907-1931
Octave Marie Joseph Kérim Homberg Jr. (1876-1941), possibly by inheritance from his father, Octave Marie Joseph Kérim Homberg Sr. [2]
1931
Sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, « Catalogue des tableaux anciens : objets d'art et de haute curiosité européens et orientaux ... la collection de Octave Homberg, : Juin 3, 2, & 5, 1931, lot 88 [3]
1931-1942
Henri Vever (1854-1942), likely purchased at Galerie Georges Petit Sale in June 1931 [4]
1942-1947
Jeanne Louise Monthiers (1861-1947), bequest of Henri Vever [5]
1947-1986
Francois Mautin (1907-2003), bequest of Jeanne Louise Monthiers and Henri Vever [6]
From 1986
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery purchased from Francois Mautin [7]
Notes:
[1] Octave Homberg Senior was a Censor of the Bank of France before becoming the Director of the Société Générale, one of the oldest banks in France. He amassed a diverse collection of fine arts, which included medieval European sculpture and Islamic manuscripts and objects. Upon his death, he bequeathed most of his collection to his son, Octave Homberg Jr. The rest was sold
at auction at Galerie Georges Petit on May 11-16, 1908 in Paris, France.
[2] Octave Homberg Jr. was a French diplomat, banker, writer, and collector. As one of France's foremost financiers, he served as the French financial agent in the United States and part of the Anglo-French Commission. In the early 1930s, Homberg suffered financial troubles and in 1931 sold most of his art collection, the majority of which he had inherited from his father. It's possible that Homberg Senior bequeathed this manuscript to his son, Homberg Jr., see note 1.
[3] Galerie Georges Petit, "Catalogue des tableaux anciens : objets d'art et de haute curiosité européens et orientaux ... la collection de Octave Homberg" [auction catalogue] (Paris, June 3-5, 1931), lot 92. See annotations from this auction on the verso of last folio.
[4] An accomplished French jeweler and collector, Henri Vever (1854-1942) 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. As indicated by annotations on the interior of the manuscript, Vever purchased this manuscript from at the Galerie Georges Petit auction in June 1931 (see note 3). This work was in Vever's collection at the time of his death in 1942.
[5] Upon Henri Vever's death on September 25, 1942, his wife, Jeanne Louise Monthiers inherited the work. See exhibits F and G of Agreement of Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection, January 9, 1986, copy in object file.
[6] 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 work is part of that collection. See exhibits F and G as cited in note 5.
[7] The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery purchased the entirety of the collection from Francois Mautin on January 9, 1986. See purchase agreement, copy in object file.
Research completed on June 26, 2022.
Collection:
Arthur M. Sackler Collection
Exhibition History:
The Art of Painting a Story: Narrative Images from Iran (December 22, 1991 to May 10, 1992)
A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)
