Detached folio from a copy of Mihr-u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar Tabrizi (d. circa 1382); recto: The nuptials of Mihr and Nahid

Detached folio from a bound copy of Mihr-u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar Tabrizi; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; recto: The nuptials of Mihr and Nahid; verso: blank; one of a group of 6: the manuscript (F1932.3a-b) and 5 detached folios are accessioned separately.
Border: The painting and the text are set in gold and blue rulings on cream-colored paper.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Ibrahim Khalil
Historical period(s)
Shaybanid dynasty, Uzbek period, 1523-24 (930 A.H.)
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 19.3 x 12.2 cm (7 5/8 x 4 13/16 in)
Geography
Uzbekistan, Bukhara
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1932.8
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
lovers, Mihr, Mushtari, Uzbek period (1500 - 1598), Uzbekistan
Provenance

Before 1914-? 
Victor Goloubew (1878-1945), method of acquisition unknown [1] 

About 1914-1931
Ownership information unknown

By at least 1931-?
Kalebjian Frères, Paris and Cairo, method of acquisition unknown [2]

?-to at least 1932 
H. Kevorkian, New York, method of acquisition unknown [3] 

From 1932 
The Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from H. Kevorkian, New York [4] 

Notes:

[1] See Philipp Walter Schulz, “Die Persich-islamische Miniaturmalerei” v.2 [book] (Leipzig: Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann, 1914), pls. 80. Schulz attributes the folio to the collection of Victor de Goloubew. Victor Goloubew was a Russian aristocrat who collected Persian, South-Asian, and European art. An archaeologist and engineer, he was among the first to use aerial photography to study Angkor Wat in Cambodia. He moved to Paris in 1904, and after losing his property in the Russian revolution he sold most of his collections.   

[2] See Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Grey, “Persian Miniature Painting: Including a Critical Descriptive catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March, 1931” [book] (London: Oxford University Press, 1933), p. 123, no.106(d), pl. LXXX-A. Entry states: “Four full-page miniatures. Lacquer binding. Lent by Kalebdjian, [sic.] Paris”. Kalebjian Frères was an antiquities gallery in Paris operated by brothers Hagop and Garbis (1885-1954). They also maintained business in Cairo.

[3] Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), was a dealer and collector of Islamic and Persian works with eponymous galleries in New York and Paris. See March 17, 1932 letter to J.E. Lodge, copy in object file; see also note 4. 

[4] See H. Kevorkian invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, February 2, 1932, and marked approved on February 2, 1932.  

Research Completed December 14, 2022

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Kalebjian Frères
Hagop Kevorkian 1872-1962
Victor Goloubew 1878-1945

Description

Detached folio from a bound copy of Mihr-u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) by Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar Tabrizi; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; recto: The nuptials of Mihr and Nahid; verso: blank; one of a group of 6: the manuscript (F1932.3a-b) and 5 detached folios are accessioned separately.
Border: The painting and the text are set in gold and blue rulings on cream-colored paper.

Published References
  • Encyclopædia Iranica. 14 vols., London and Boston. vol. II, fasc. 8: p. 803.
  • Freer Gallery of Art. Gallery Book III: Exhibition of September 5, 1933. Washington, September 5, 1933. .
  • Wiebke Walther. Die Frau im Islam [Women in Islam]. Leipzig and Montclair, New Jersey, 1980-1981. pl. 83.
  • Philipp Walter Schulz. Die Persisch-Islamische Miniaturmalerei: Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte Irans. 2 vols, Leipzig. pl. 80.
  • Oleg Akimushkin, Priscilla P. Soucek. The Arts of the Book in Central Asia: 14th - 16th Centuries. London and Paris. pl. 62.
  • Dr. Esin Atil. Exhibition of 2500 Years of Persian Art. Exh. cat. Washington, 1971. cat. 28, p. 10.
  • B. W. Robinson. Persian Drawings from the 14th through the 19th Century. Drawings of the Masters New York. pp.30, 121, 140, pl. 89.
  • Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson, Basil Gray. Persian Miniature Painting: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March 1931. Exh. cat. Oxford, January - March 1931. p. 123,, pl. 80, no. 106d.
  • Ernst Grube. The World of Islam. Landmarks of the World's Art London. p. 124, pl. 77.
  • Milo Cleveland Beach, Glenn D. Lowry. Early Mughal Painting. The Polsky Lectures in London and Southeast Asian Art and Archeology London and Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 131, 133, fig. 91.
  • A.M. Kevorkian. Les Jardins du Desir: Sept Siecles de Peinture Persane. Paris. pp. 196-197.
  • Abolala Soudavar, Milo Cleveland Beach. Art of the Persian Courts: Selections from the Art and History Trust Collection. New York. p. 208.
  • Volkmar Enderlein. Islamische Kunst. Dresden. p. 231.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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