Album folio; recto: Lady with two attendants; verso: calligraphy

Object Details

• Description

  Detached album folio; left-hand half of a double-page composition; text: Persian and Arabic in black nasta'liq script; recto: Lady with two attendants; verso: panel of calligraphy, one column, six lines; signed by Muhammad Ibrahim.

  Border: The recto is set in a frame of gold foliate and arabesque motifs mounted on a blue-colored paperboard with gold flowers. The verso is set in black rulings surrounded by a green border mounted on a blue- colored paperboard with colored flowers.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: praise be to God, the bestower of images, and prayers upon his Prophet, dispatched to all mankind, and upon his family and companions. May He help us on the day of resurrection. This unique painted album is a regal pearl from the sea of calligraphy and depiction...The beauty of its figures is beyond the world of reality and imagination, and the beauty of its images is the symbol of manifestations of the world of archetypes...the poor Muhammad Ibrahim [A.H.] 1287 [A.D. 1869-70].

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

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

• Type

  Painting

• 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

  1860s, 1870s

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Henri Vever collection, Woman, Attendant, Lute

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings