Fettered camel and keeper; reverse: calligraphy panel

Detached album folio; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; Fettered camel and the keeper, inscriptions; reverse: calligraphy panel, signed by Sultan Muhammad Khandan and Baba Muzahhab.
Border: The painting is set in gold and black rulings on beige-colored paper; the calligraphy panel is set in gold and green rulings in an illuminated outer frame with a narrow red frame on one side, on a cream-colored paper.

Maker(s)
Artist: Ascribed to Bizhad
Historical period(s)
Safavid period, late 15th century
Medium
Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 11.5 x 14.5 cm (4 1/2 x 5 11/16 in)
Geography
Afghanistan, Herat
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1937.22
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Album, Painting
Type

Manuscript folio

Keywords
Afghanistan, camel, illumination, Safavid period (1501 - 1722), WWII-era provenance
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Detached album folio; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; Fettered camel and the keeper, inscriptions; reverse: calligraphy panel, signed by Sultan Muhammad Khandan and Baba Muzahhab.
Border: The painting is set in gold and black rulings on beige-colored paper; the calligraphy panel is set in gold and green rulings in an illuminated outer frame with a narrow red frame on one side, on a cream-colored paper.

Inscription(s)

Top page, sawwarahu Bihzad, kar-i a'la-yi Ustad Bihzad
"depicted by Bihzad, outstanding work of Master Bihzad."
Reverse: . . . fath u zafar u dawlat u iqbal zi dahr / bada ba murad-i dil hama hasil-i tu" al-'abd Sultan Muhammad Khandan, harrarahu Baba al-Mudhahhib.
". . . conquest, victory, good fortune and success from the world--may all these come to you as your heart's desire. The slave Sultan-Muhammad Khandan, outlined by Baba the Gilder."

Published References
  • Richard Ettinghausen, Ernst Kuhnel. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. 6 vols., London and New York, 1938 - 1939. vol. 3: p. 1864.
  • The Home Forum. Boston, November 3, 1938. p. 9.
  • Amy Briggs. Timurid Carpets: I. Geometric Carpets. vol. 7, no. 1 Ann Arbor. cat. 53, p. 53.
  • Armenag Sakisian. La Miniature Persane du XIIe au XVIIe siecle: Ouvrage accompagne de la reproduction de 193 miniatures dont deux en couleurs. Paris and Brussels. p. 68f, pl. 49, fig. 84.
  • 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. 100.
  • David Alexander. The Camel Through the Ages. 1, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. p. 118, fig. 81.
  • Stewart Desmond. Early Islam. Great Ages of Man New York. p. 178.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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