Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209)

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Murshid al-Shirazi

• Description

  Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; 430 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols. 1 verso, 2 recto), 4 sarlawhs (fols. 129,196, 260, 382 verso), 25 paintings, 1 dated colophon (folio 430 recto), and a dated flyleaf; inscriptions (flyleaf); standard page, 4 columns, 19 lines; one of a group of 27 folios.

  Binding: The manuscript was originally bound in leather over paper paste boards with gold embossed tooling, filigree designs over a blue ground, fore-edge flap panels with inlaid gold leather nasta'liq script, and doublures of lacquered papier-mâché, the binding has been removed, the manuscript is now bound in brown leather.

• Inscriptions

  Flyleaf: Khamsa-i Nizami khatt Morshed Khushnevis [?].

  "Khamsa-i Nizami by the hand of Morshed Khushnevis [?]."

  Alah Akbar, khamsa sheykh Nizami, be tarikh seneh 1041 hejri [?].

  “God is great, Khamsa Sheykh Nizami, dated [A.H. 1041] [A.D.1631]."

• Provenance

  To 1908

  Tabbagh Frères, Paris, to 1908 [1]

  From 1908 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Tabbagh Frères, Paris, through the Bauer-Folsom Company, New York, in 1908 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See List of Persian Books and Paintings, S.I. 1592, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Tabbagh Frères (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Shiraz, Iran

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Manuscript

• On View

  Freer Gallery 04: Engaging the Senses

• 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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• 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

  Tabbagh Frères, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  Shiraz

• Topic

  S?afavid dynasty, 1501-1736, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Arts of the Islamic World, Illumination

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts

• On View

  Yes