Youth and old man

Object Details

• Artist

  Riza Abbasi (ca. 1565-1635)

• Calligrapher

  Mir Ali al-Katib (ca. 1360-1420)

• Description

  Detached album folio; top: Qur'anic fragment in black nasta'liq script; center: Youth and an old man signed by Aga Riza; below: dated calligraphic panel by Mir Ali Katib; seal of Shah Abbas.

  Border: The composition is set in gold and lapis illuminated panel with a poem from Nizami's Sharafnama, mounted on paperboard with floral motifs.

• Inscriptions

  "Written by the sinful slave of God, Mir-Ali al-Katib in the months of the year [A.H.] 937 [A.D. 1530-31]."

• Provenance

  From at least 1911

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), Paris, from at least 1911 [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] The object is documented as having appeared in the collection of Kevorkian by at least November 7, 1911. 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. 408.

  [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), pp. 312-314, no. 365.

  [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

  Visual Poetry: Paintings and Drawings from Iran (December 16, 2001 to May 5, 2004)

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

  Persian and Indian Painting - Selections from a Recent Acquisition (September 28, 1987 to February 28, 1988)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Isfahan, Iran

• Credit Line

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

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  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, Kevorkian, Hagop, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Isfahan

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Art, Elder, Henri Vever collection, Men, Arts of the Islamic World, Youth

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Paintings