Folio from a Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020); recto: Iskandar encounters the Angel Israfel; verso: text: Iskandar crosses the Land of Darkness, removes the ruby; Iskandar constructs a wall to defeat Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Muhammad al-Qiwam al-Katib al-Shirazi (ca. 1537-1585)

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: illustration and text, Iskandar encounters the Angel Israfel; verso: text, Iskandar crosses the Land of Darkness, removes the ruby; Iskandar constructs a wall to defeat Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), four columns, twenty-five lines.

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

• Provenance

  Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947), Paris [1]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, to 1942 [2]

  From 1942 to 1986

  Family member, Paris and Boulogne, France, by inheritance from Henri Vever, Paris and Noyers, France [3]

  From 1986

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from a family member, Paris and Boulogne, France [4]

  Notes:

  [1] 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. 407.

  [2] See Glenn D. Lowry et al., An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 110, no. 118.

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

  [4] See note 3.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Islamic Representations of the Classical Past (February 14 to May 13, 2018)

  The Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings (October 23, 2010 to April 17, 2011)

  A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (November 20, 1988 to April 30, 1989)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Léonce Rosenberg (1879-1947)

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Probably Turkey

• 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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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1580s, 1560s

• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Alexander, Rosenberg, Léonce, Vever, Henri

• Topic

  Art, Henri Vever collection, Khizr, Water of Life, Arts of the Islamic World, Angels, Elias, Israfel, Shahnama

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians, Turks

• Object Type

  Manuscripts