Detached frontispiece from a dispersed copy of the Khamsa (Quintet) by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: flyleaf inscription, oval seal; verso: right-hand half of a double page frontispiece, text, prologue to the Khamsa and illuminated cartouche with inscription; recto: left hand-half of a double-page frontispiece, text, poem and illuminated cartouche with the name of Bahram Mirza, verso, text: poem, two columns, nine lines.
Border: the text is set in an illuminated border on a gold-sprinkled paper.
Inscriptions:
Fol. 1recto: " on Tuesday the twenty-fourth of the month of Sha'ban of one thousand three hundred and seven of hegira [A.D. August 28, 1889], in the abode of the Sultanate Tabriz, I came to see his Excellency [?] Hajji Mirza [Rafikhan], the chancellor of the office of the treasury...Khan. He presented this book of the Khamsa of Amir Khusraw to me as a gift and I was grateful, and bestowed it upon Aqa Mirza Sami' Khan Mustawfi, his son. I am the slave [of God] Hasan Ali."; oval seal: Amir Nizam, [A.H.] 1302, [A.D. 1885].
Fol.1 verso: upper illuminated cartouche: "The Khamsa of [His] Highness Amir Khusraw"; lower illuminated cartouche: "for the use of the library of Shahryar."
Fol. 2recto: upper illuminated cartouche: " Upon him benediction and pardon"; lower illuminated cartouche “Abu'l-Fath Bahram Jam, as powerful as Jamshid."
Fol. 2recto: upper illuminated cartouche: " Upon him benediction and pardon"; lower illuminated cartouche “Abu'l-Fath Bahram Jam, as powerful as Jamshid."
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:
Hunt for Paradise: Courts Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501-1576 (October 16, 2003 to June 27, 2004)
Crushed Lapis and Burnished Gold: The Art of Illumination (June 9 to December 8, 1991)
A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)
