Folio from a copy of Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa ghara'ib al-mawjudat (The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence) by Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (d.1283); recto: Constellation al-Dubb al-Akbar or Ursa Major (Greater Bear or Big Dipper), Draco (al-Tinnin); verso: Cepheus (Qifa'us), Bootes (al-'Awwa')

Object Details

• Author

  Zakariyya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (1203-1283)

• Label

  The Ajaib al-makhluqat wa Gharaib al-mawjudat (Wonders of Creation and Oddities of Existence), was written by al-Qazvini (1202-1283, the qadi (judge) of Wasit and Hilla during the reign of the last Abbasid caliph, al-Mustusim (r. 1241-58). The manuscript is divided into two parts that explore heavenly and terrestrial phenomena. The folio, from one of the first illustrated copies of the manuscript belong to the first part of the text. It depicts Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, and Draco, the dragon, two of the 21 constellations in the northern hemisphere.

• Provenance

  To 1945

  Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (1865-1945). [1]

  To 1954

  Mme. Maria Sarre, Ascona, Switzerland. [2]

  From 1954

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Dr. Paul Kempner, New York on behalf of Mme. Maria Sarre, Ascona, Switzerland. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Object file F1954.33-114, undated folder sheet note 2. “The manuscript was originally acquired by Prof. Friedrich Sarre in Algiers”.

  [2] Object file F1954.33-114, undated folder sheet note 1. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2. See also invoice dated July 22, 1954 and correspondences between Dr. Paul Kempner and the Freer Gallery, dated July 21, 1954; copies in object file.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

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

  Wonders of Creation, Oddities of Existence: An Exhibition in Celebration of Halley's Comet (February 28, 1986 to October 27, 1986)

  Art of the Arab World (May 8, 1975 to August 20, 1977)

  Collection of Friedrich and Maria Sarre (1932)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (1865-1945)

  Mme. Maria Sarre (1875-1971)

• Origin

  Iraq or Eastern Turkey

• 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

  Sarre, Maria, Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor

• Topic

  Bootes, Ursa Major, Art, Star, Constellation, Arts of the Islamic World, Wonders of Creation, Draco, Astronomy, Cepheus

• Culture

  Muslims, Iraqis, Turks

• Language

  Naskh script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts