Two demons, fettered

Object Details

• Description

  Tinted drawing with additions of gold on paper.

• Label

  Timurid princes were passionate collectors of Chinese luxury goods, a practice that inspired local artists to experiment with the new styles and motifs found on such imports and to integrate them into their own work.

  One intriguing and enigmatic series of drawings and paintings that incorporates Chinese pictorial conventions shows monsters and demons (div) in various activities and poses. These wild, highly expressive creatures contrast sharply with the elegant and emotionally reserved men and women typically seen in Timurid paintings and recall Central Asian and Chinese models and techniques. Frequently, the demons appear with familiar objects, as seen in this remarkable tinted drawing. The one on the right, for instance, plays a spiked fiddle (kamancha), a musical instrument that was popular in Iran and Central Asia. His companion holds a gold cup and a Chinese blue-and-white bottle decorated with a writhing dragon. The style and technique of drawing also owes more to Chinese than Persian pictorial conventions. Both ferocious and comical, these fantastic figures are among the most distinct and powerful images created during the fifteenth century.

• Provenance

  To at least 1931

  Sakisian Collection. [1]

  To 1937

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York. [2]

  From 1937

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 3 in the object record.

  [2] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [3] See note 2.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

  In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia (March 19 to August 7, 2005)

  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)

  Ceramics from the World of Islam (January 16, 1974 to July 1, 1974)

  Special Exhibition Afghanistan (September 3, 1963 to June 5, 1964)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 6 and 7 (February 25, 1956 to April 10, 1962)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Manuscripts, Pottery, Metalwork, and Glass (April 12, 1955 to November 21, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Islamic Arts, 1947 (October 6, 1947 to February 25, 1956)

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Sakisian Collection

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Origin

  Iran or Central Asia

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1500s, 1400s

• Name

  Sakisian Collection, Kevorkian, Hagop

• Place

  Central Asia

• Topic

  Musical instruments, Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Demon, Arts of the Islamic World

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Drawings