Tuhfat al-ahrar (Gift of the free) by Jami (d. 1492)

Manuscript; Tuhfat al-ahrar (Gift of the free) by Jami; Persian in black nasta’liq script; headings in gold and red; 78 folios with a signed double-page frontispiece (folio 1verso, 2 recto), one sarlawh (folio 2 verso), and a dated colophon, inscriptions and seals (folio 78 verso); standard page: two columns, 13 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards with gold block-stamped exterior covers; the doublures are of gold block-stamped and leather filigree over a multicolored paper ground. The envelop flap has a border identical to that on the upper and lower covers; the pages of the manuscript are mounted in multicolored borders decorated with gold floral designs and marginal medallions.

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Maker(s)
Calligrapher: Mahmud Mudhahibb
Historical period(s)
Shaybanid dynasty, Uzbek period, circa 1540
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W (overall): 28.2 x 18.1 cm (11 1/8 x 7 1/8 in)
Geography
Uzbekistan, Bukhara
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1986.46
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
Henri Vever collection, nasta'liq script, palace, Uzbek period (1500 - 1598), Uzbekistan, WWII-era provenance
Provenance

From at least 1931
Octave Homberg, Paris, from at least 1931 [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 Octave Homberg by at least June 1931. 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. 400.

[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), pp. 152-154, no. 180.

[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.

Previous Owner(s)

Octave Homberg
Henri Vever 1854-1942
Francois Mautin French, born 1907

Description

Manuscript; Tuhfat al-ahrar (Gift of the free) by Jami; Persian in black nasta'liq script; headings in gold and red; 78 folios with a signed double-page frontispiece (folio 1verso, 2 recto), one sarlawh (folio 2 verso), and a dated colophon, inscriptions and seals (folio 78 verso); standard page: two columns, 13 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is bound in leather over paper pasteboards with gold block-stamped exterior covers; the doublures are of gold block-stamped and leather filigree over a multicolored paper ground. The envelop flap has a border identical to that on the upper and lower covers; the pages of the manuscript are mounted in multicolored borders decorated with gold floral designs and marginal medallions.

Inscription(s)

Folio 78 verso: "[On] the date of the 9th of Isfand...in the year 49[?] [it] was seen; [on the] tenth of [Adhar] of the year ...[it] was seen; [on] the 21st of Jumada II in the year [A.H] 1069 [A.D. March 16, 1659] [it] was seen;" seals: (fol. 78 verso, circular) [illegible] stamps: black ink.

Published References
  • Glenn D. Lowry, Susan Nemanzee. A Jeweler's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection. Washington and Seattle. p. 36, fig. 16.
  • Octave Homberg. Publication title unknown. cat. 88, p. 47, pl. XXXIX.
  • Oleg Grabar. The Meditation of Ornament. Princeton. p. 108, fig. 80.
  • 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. 180, pp. 152-154.
  • Henry Corbin, Paul Pelliot, Eustache de Lorey. Les Arts de l'Iran, l'ancienne Perse, et Bagdad. Paris. cat. 69, p. 163.
  • Marianna Shreve Simpson, Massumeh Farhad. Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran. Washington and New Haven. p. 369.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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