Kulliyat (Complete works) by Sa’di (d.1291)

Manuscript; Kulliyat (Complete works) by Sa’di; text: Persian in black, red and blue nasta’liq script; 358 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols.2 verso, 3 recto), 15 sarlawhs (fols. 3, 12, 33, 77, 233, 246, 251, 269, 274, 280, 296, 323, 327, 339, 342 verso), 2 shamsa (fols. 1 verso,1 recto), and 19 paintings (fols. 43verso-44recto, 54verso, 64verso, 82recto, 111verso-112recto, 133verso, 136verso-137recto, 155recto, 170verso, 200verso-201recto, 210verso, 222verso-213recto, 270recto, 272verso); 1 dated colophon (folio 358 recto); seal (folio 2 recto); inscription (folio 358 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text, marginal column in Persian with a few lines of Arabic in nasta’liq script, and marginal triangular illuminations.
Binding: The manuscript is in a lacquer-painted binding with floral designs. The inner, upper and lower covers have a brown lacquer ground with a single stemmed narcissi.

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Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1587 (995 A.H.)
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 25.4 x 15.8 cm (10 x 6 1/4 in)
Geography
Iran, Shiraz
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1986.45
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
Henri Vever collection, Iran, nasta'liq script, Safavid period (1501 - 1722), WWII-era provenance
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Manuscript; Kulliyat (Complete works) by Sa'di; text: Persian in black, red and blue nasta'liq script; 358 folios with a double-page frontispiece (fols.2 verso, 3 recto), 15 sarlawhs (fols. 3, 12, 33, 77, 233, 246, 251, 269, 274, 280, 296, 323, 327, 339, 342 verso), 2 shamsa (fols. 1 verso,1 recto), and 19 paintings (fols. 43verso-44recto, 54verso, 64verso, 82recto, 111verso-112recto, 133verso, 136verso-137recto, 155recto, 170verso, 200verso-201recto, 210verso, 222verso-213recto, 270recto, 272verso); 1 dated colophon (folio 358 recto); seal (folio 2 recto); inscription (folio 358 recto); standard page: 2 columns, 12 lines of text, marginal column in Persian with a few lines of Arabic in nasta'liq script, and marginal triangular illuminations.
Binding: The manuscript is in a lacquer-painted binding with floral designs. The inner, upper and lower covers have a brown lacquer ground with a single stemmed narcissi.

Inscription(s)

Fol. 358 recto: "the divan of the shaykh of shaykhs of Islam, the most learned of poets, the most perfect of scholars, the shaykh of mystics, Muslih al-Din Sa'di was completed, on the 26th of the holy Ramadan in the year [A.H.] 995 [A.D. August 30, 1587]."
Seals: fol. 2 recto (oval)...Muhammad [A.H.] 1153 [A.D. 1740-41], fol. 187 verso (oval) [illegible]."

Published References
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Milo Cleveland Beach, Elisabeth West FitzHugh, Susan Nemanzee, Janet Snyder. An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. cat. 282, pp. 246-248.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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