Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209)

Object Details

• Description

  Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; illuminated headings in blue; 366 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 1 verso, 2 recto), 5 sarlawhs (fols. 30,116,174, 236, 320 verso) and 16 paintings (15 verso, 49 verso, 59 recto, 77 recto, 89 recto, 127 recto, 137 verso, 149 verso, 165 verso, 189 verso, 203 verso, 233 verso, 266 recto, 280 recto, 325 verso, 339 recto); standard page: 4 columns, 21 lines of text.

  Binding: The manuscript is bound in gilded black leather over paper pasteboards with block-stamped designs on the exterior covers. The doublures are of gold block- stamping and leather filigree over a blue paper ground.

• Provenance

  From at least 1923

  Rudolf Meyer Riefstahl (1880-1936). [1]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France. [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 R. M. Riefstahl by at least April 1923. 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. 400.

  [2] See note 1.

  [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

  Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam (May 16, 2010 to August 08, 2010)

  Paintings from Shiraz (December 24, 1994 to August 27, 1995)

  The Art of Painting a Story: Narrative Images from Iran (December 22, 1991 to May 10, 1992)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Rudolf Meyer Riefstahl (1880-1936)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Shiraz, 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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• 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, Riefstahl, Rudolf Meyer, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Shiraz

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts