Folio from Divan (collected poems) of Sultan Husayn Mirza (d.1506); calligraphy

Object Details

• Author

  Sultan Husayn Mirza (1470-1506)

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Divan (collected poems) by Sultan Husayn Mirza; Eastern Turkish in white nasta'liq script with the title in an illuminated band; verses of poem executed in qat' (cut-out technique); one of a group of two folios (with F1929.67)

  Border: Folio is on a green ground, set in gold and white rulings on gold- sprinkled paper.

• Label

  Written in Turkish, this folio is from a copy of the collected works of the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara (reigned 1470-1506), and is executed in a technique known as qata'i (decoupage). Instead of writing in ink, individual letters are cut out of different colored paper and pasted on a contrasting background. The art of decoupage, which originated in late-fifteenth-century Herat, required tremendous skill, dexterity, and imagination.

• Provenance

  To 1929

  Kirkor Minassian

  From 1929

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Kirkor Minassian in 1929

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy (September 13, 2014 to May 3, 2015)

  In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth Century Iran and Central Asia (March 19 to August 7, 2005)

  Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)

  Nastaliq Calligraphy (September 23, 1982 to January 20, 1984)

  Untitled Exhibition, South Asian and Persian Art (March 24, 1930 to March 14, 1931)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Kirkor Minassian (1874-1944)

• Origin

  Herat, Afghanistan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• 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

  1400s

• Name

  Minassian, Kirkor

• Place

  Afghanistan, Herat

• Topic

  Divan, Art, Timurid period (1378 - 1506), Arts of the Islamic World, Illumination, Poetry, Decoupage

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Language

  Nasta?li-q script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts