Folio from a Mihr-u Mushtari by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar Tabrizi (d.1382)

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Ibrahim Khalil

• Description

  Detached folio from a bound copy of Mihr-u Mushtari (the Sun and Jupiter) by Assar; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: Shamsa with inscription; verso: sarlawh, 2 columns, 8 lines; one of a group of 6: the manuscript (F1932.3a-b) and 5 detached folios are accessioned separately.

  Border: The text and the sarlawh are set in gold and blue rulings on cream-colored paper.

• Inscriptions

  Shamsa," made for the library of the exalted ruler Abu l-Ghazi Sultan Abd al Aziz Bahadur."

• Provenance

  Before 1914-? 

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

  About 1914-1932

  Ownership information 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), pl. 118a. 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. See also note in TMS: the folio is part of a set (F1932.2a-b – F1932.8) and is the frontispiece of Ms. F1937.3a-b; an archived note in TMS for ms. F1932.3a-b states: The book was unbound March 23, 1932, at the Freer Gallery.

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

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

  Research Completed December 15, 2022

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Islamic Manuscript Illumination (January 23, 1984 to December 10, 1984)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Victor Goloubew (1878-1945)

  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, Kevorkian, Hagop

• Place

  Bukhara, Uzbekistan

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Muslims

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts