Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209); recto: Layla and Majnun at school; verso: text

Object Details

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Layla and Majnun from a Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; recto: Layla and Majnun at school, inscription in Persian black nasta'liq; verso: illumination; one of a group of three folios.

  Border: The recto is set in gold, red and black rulings with illumination at the top and bottom; the verso is set in gold, red and black rulings on cream-colored paper.

• Inscriptions

  On the tablet on bookstand, "say: he is God, the one! God, the eternally besought of all; he begetteth not, nor was he begotten; and there is none comparable to him" [partly legible verse from Sura al-Ikhlas (the Sincerity), sura 112:1-4].

  On the tablet on bookstand, "say: he is God, the one! God, the eternally besought of all; he begetteth not, nor was he begotten; and there is none comparable to him" [partly legible verse from Sura al-Ikhlas (the Sincerity), sura 112:1-4].

• Provenance

  From at least 1911

  Reza Khan Monif, from at least 1911 [1]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France, to 1942 [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] The object is documented as having appeared in the collection of Reza Khan Monif by at least November 7, 1911. 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. 408.

  [2] See Glenn D. Lowry et al., An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 234, no. 270.

  [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

  The Art of Painting a Story: Narrative Images from Iran (December 22, 1991 to May 10, 1992)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Reiza Khan Monif

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Iran

• 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

• Topic

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

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts