Folio from the Majma' al-tawarikh (Compendium of history) by Hafiz Abru (d.1430); recto: The Birth of Muhammad; verso: text, Wet nurse Halima and her husband, Harith, taking care of infant Muhammad

Object Details

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Majma' al-tawarikh (Compendium of history) by Hafiz Abru; text: Persian in black and red nasta'liq script; recto: text and illustration: The Birth of the prophet Muhammad, 18 lines; verso: text: 33 lines.

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

• Provenance

  To 1969

  Robert Lehman (1891-1969), to 1969 [1]

  From 1969

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lehman Collection, New York City, bequeathed by Robert Lehman, from 1969 [2]

  To 2005

  Sam Fogg, Ltd., London, to 2005

  From 2005

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Sam Fogg, Ltd. in 2005

  Notes:

  [1] According to the seller, March 8, 2005 (see Provenance Remark 1 in the object record).

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Robert Lehman (1891-1969)

  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  Sam Fogg, Ltd. (established 1986)

• Origin

  Herat, Historic Iran, present-day Afghanistan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s

• Name

  Lehman, Robert, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fogg, Sam

• Place

  Afghanistan, Herat

• Topic

  Muhammad, Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Arts of the Islamic World, Children, Birth, Woman, Prophet

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts