Makhzan al-asrar (Treasury of secrets) by Haydar Khwarazmi (d.1414?)

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Mir Ali Haravi (died ca. 1550)

• Description

  Manuscript; Makhzan al-asrar (Treasury of secrets) by Haydar Khwarazmi; ChaghatayTurkish in black and white nasta'liq script; 32 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols.2verso, and 3recto), illuminated headings, 9 paintings (fols.1 recto, 10 recto, 12 recto, 14 recto, 17 recto, 19 recto, 22 verso, 24 recto, 26 recto), and a dated colophon (folio 32 recto); seals (fols.2 and 32 recto); inscriptions (fols.1 recto, 31 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text.

  Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards stamped with the name of Vever; the lower and upper covers both have a border of multiple fillets.

• Marks

  Seals: (fols. 2, 31 recto, oval) his slave Muhammad b. Muhammad Riza Mahdi.

• Inscriptions

  Fol. 2 recto: "the book of Makhzan al-asrar of Haydar Tilba, copied by Ali al-Katib, the date of the month of Rabi' I."

• Provenance

  To 1908

  Reza Khan Monif, Paris, France. [1]

  From 1908 to 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, purchased from Reza Khan Monif, Paris, France on April 9, 1908. [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. 400. See also Glen D. Lowry and Susan Nemazee, "Appendix 2: Ledger of Acquisitions, 1894 and 1907-17" in A Jeweler’s Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 229.

  [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

  Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture (February 24, 2012 to January 13, 2013)

  Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Painting (August 30, 2003 to February 22, 2004)

  Other Worldly Visions: Persian and Indian Paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (March 27, 1998 to May 10, 1998)

  Crushed Lapis and Burnished Gold: The Art of Illumination (June 9 to December 8, 1991)

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

  International Exhibition of Persian Art (January 7 to March 7, 1931)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Reiza Khan Monif

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Khurasan, Iran (present-day Afghanistan)

• 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, Monif, Reiza Khan, Vever, Henri

• Place

  Khurasan

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts