Folio from a dispersed copy of Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d. 1209); recto: illuminated table of contents; verso: A prince seated in a landscape with attendants, right-hand half of a double-page frontispiece

Object Details

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian and Turkish in black nasta'liq script; recto: table of contents with titles of: Khusraw va Shirin, Makhzan al-asrar, Haft paykar, Iskandarnama, Layla va Majnun; verso: right-hand half of a double-page frontispiece, facing folio (S1986.191.2), A prince seated in a landscape with attendants; one of a group of two folios.

  Border: recto: The table of contents is set in red, gold and green rulings on cream-colored paper; verso: the painting is set in red and gold inner frame and an illuminated outer frame.

• Inscriptions

  Recto: above the page: "with the grace of God the merciful, [?] the poor Nusrat."

• Provenance

  To at least 1922

  Moussa, Tehran, Iran. [1]

  1922

  Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Objets d'art Anciens de la Perse, May 5-6, 1922, no. 130. [2]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France. [3]

  From 1942 to 1986

  Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France. [4]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France. [5]

  Notes:

  [1] The object was in the collection of Moussa (M.J.M) until 1922 when it was published in the auction catalogue, Objets d'art anciens de la Perse, May 5-6, 1922. See Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 7: Chart of Recent Provenance" in An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, Glenn D. Lowry et al (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 405.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See note 1.

  [4] See the Agreement for the Purchase and Sale of the Henri Vever Collection of January 9, 1986, Collections Management Office.

  [5] See note 4.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Hotel Drouot

  Moussa

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Isfahan, Iran

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1500s, 1610s, 1600s, 1590s, 1540s, 1650s, 1530s, 1640s, 1520s, 1630s, 1510s, 1620s, 1580s, 1730s, 1690s, 1570s, 1680s, 1560s, 1670s, 1550s, 1660s

• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Hotel Drouot, Moussa, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Isfahan

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Landscapes, Prince, Art, Henri Vever collection, Khamsa, Arts of the Islamic World, Illumination, Attendant

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts