Folio from a Divan (collected poems) by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir (d.1410); Angels amidst clouds; recto: text

Object Details

• Description

  Detached folio from a Divan (Collected poems) by Sultan Ahmad Jalayir; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; headings in Arabic in gold, red and blue nasta'liq; recto: text, two columns, 13 lines, 46 lines of marginal text; verso: Angels amidst clouds, two columns, 14 lines; one of a group of 9: the manuscript, its separated cover (F 1932.29), and 7 detached folios (F1932.30-32, F1932.34-37) are accessioned separately.

• Label

  Some of the earliest and finest ink drawings from the Islamic world date from the late fourteenth century and appear in the celebrated Divan of Sultan Ahmad, the last ruler of the Jalayirid dynasty, which controlled western Iran and Iraq during the latter part of the fourteenth century.

  Unlike most illustrated manuscripts, the compositions in the Divan, such as Angels Amidst Clouds, appear in the margins of the text. Executed with a brush, the work is remarkable for its cascading gold clouds anchored by graceful heavenly creatures. Although the scene does not relate directly to the nearest verses, it evokes the lyrical mood and mystically inspired concepts of Sultan Ahmad's poetry. It has been proposed that Angels Amidst Clouds represents one of the stages in the spiritual quest for the divine. Referred to as the Valley of Astonishment, this stage is described as a place where neither man nor beast lives.

• Provenance

  From at least 1912-at least 1926

  Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933), purchased from unidentified dealer in Constantinople [1]

  About 1926-1931

  Ownership information unknown

  From at least 1931-1932

  Jacob Hirsch, Ph.D., New York, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  From 1932

  The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Jacob Hirsch, New York [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See “Miniatures from the Period of Timur in Manuscripts of the Poems of Sultan Ahmad Jalair” [book] (Vienna: printed for the author, 1926), p. 12, pl. IV. See also p. 27, where Martin recounts buying the manuscript in Constantinople in November 1912. It is unclear when, or to whom, he sold it. Martin was a Swedish diplomat, scholar, collector, art historian and author. Martin documented his journeys in numerous books.

  [2] 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. 63 no. 36. The manuscript is “Lent by Jacob Hirsch, Geneva”, and “The last eight pages have the borders filled with line drawings and touched with gold and light colour. (These were shown separately at the Exhibition, mounted and framed.)”.

  Dr. Jacob Hirsch (1874-1955) was a collector of coins, medals, and classical art, as well as a dealer of archaeological objects. He had an eponymous gallery in New York, as well as businesses in Switzerland and Paris.

  See purchase file F1932.29 for J.E. Lodge letter to Dr. J. Hirsch dated April 9, 1932, wherein Lodge writes that he would come to New York to see the manuscript, implying it is already in the U.S. See also January 4, 1932 letter from M. Aga-Oglu, of the Detroit Institute of Arts, to Dr. Hirsch, noting that he had studied the manuscript and was enclosing it, with the miniatures, for return to Hirsch.

  [3] The Freer Gallery of Art paid Dr. Jacob Hirsch in installments, the first on August 1, 1932, and the last on July 3, 1933, and marked approved on June 28, 1932. See object file for copy of invoices.

  Research completed December 16, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  From the Hand of Mani (January 18, 1985 to July 5, 1985)

  The Brush of the Masters: Drawings from Iran (October 14, 1978 to May 30, 1979)

  Near Eastern Art (January 1, 1963 to August 18, 1967)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts (May 1, 1945 to September 25, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Persian Paintings and Ceramics (May 5, 1933 to January 9, 1945)

  International Exhibition of Persian Art (January 7 to March 7, 1931)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933)

  Dr. Jacob Hirsch (1874?-1955)

• Origin

  Baghdad, Iraq

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Name

  Dr. Jacob Hirsch, Martin, Fredrik Robert

• Place

  Baghdad

• Topic

  Divan, Art, Jalayirid dynasty (1340 - 1432), Cloud, Arts of the Islamic World, Mongol period (1220 - 1380), Angels

• Culture

  Muslims, Iraqis

• Object Type

  Manuscripts