Mihr u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar (d. circa1382)

Object Details

• Author

  Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar of Tabriz

• Calligrapher

  Ibrahim Khalil

• Description

  Manuscript; Mihr u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script with headings in gold, red and blue; 284 bound folios and five detached folios with 1 shamsa (folio1 recto), 1 sarlawh (folio 2 recto), 4 paintings, one dated colophon (folio 284recto), and 3 seals (folio 284recto); standard page, 2 columns, 12 lines; one of a group of 6: folios F1932.4-8 of the same bound manuscript have been detached and accessioned separately.

  Binding: The manuscript is in a lacquer-painted binding with floral designs, scalloped medallion and corner-pieces. The doublures are of brown lacquer ground with single stemmed narcissus.

• Inscriptions

  "Written by the sinful slave who hopes for the mercy of God the magnificent king, Ibrahim [son of] Khalil, may [God] pardon their sins and cover their faults, in Bukhara in the year 929 [A.D. 1522-23]."

• Provenance

  Before 1914-? 

  Victor Goloubew (1878-1945), method of acquisition unknown [1] 

  About 1914-1931

  Ownership information unknown

  By at least 1931-?

  Kalebjian Frères, Paris and Cairo, method of acquisition unknown [2]

  ?-to at least 1932 

  H. Kevorkian, New York, method of acquisition unknown [3] 

  From 1932 

  The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from H. Kevorkian, New York [4] 

  Notes:

  [1] See Philipp Walter Schulz, “Die Persich-islamische Miniaturmalerei” v.2 [book] (Leipzig: Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann, 1914), pls. 72-80. Schulz attributes the folio to the collection of Victor de Goloubew.

  Victor Goloubew was a Russian aristocrat who collected Persian, South-Asian, and European art. An archaeologist and engineer, he was among the first to use aerial photography to study Angkor Wat in Cambodia. He moved to Paris in 1904, and after losing his property in the Russian revolution he sold most of his collections.

  [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. 123, no.106, pls. LXXIX-LXXX. Entry states: “Four full-page miniatures. Lacquer binding. Lent by Kalebdjian [sic.], Paris”. Kalebjian Frères was an antiquities gallery in Paris operated by brothers Hagop and Garbis (1885-1954). They also maintained business in Cairo.

  [3] Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), was a dealer and collector of Islamic art with eponymous galleries in New York and Paris. See March 17, 1932, letter to J.E. Lodge, copy in object file; see also note 4. 

  [4] See H. Kevorkian invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, February 2, 1932, and marked approved on February 2, 1932.  

  Research Completed December 14, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Victor Goloubew (1878-1945)

  Kalebjian Frères

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Origin

  Bukhara, Uzbekistan

• 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

  1520s

• Name

  Goloubew, Victor, Kalebjian Frères, Kevorkian, Hagop

• Place

  Bukhara, Uzbekistan

• Topic

  Mushtari, Art, Mihr, Arts of the Islamic World, Uzbek period (1500 - 1598)

• Culture

  Muslims

• Object Type

  Manuscripts