Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209); Bahram Gur and the Princess in the Sandalwood Pavilion

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; headings in red and blue; 269 folios with 4 sarlawhs (1 verso, 39 verso,105 verso, 192 verso) and 13 paintings; inscriptions (fols. 104 verso, 269 verso); standard page: 2 columns, 17 lines and 1 marginal column with 32 lines.
Binding: The manuscript is in a nineteenth-century lacquer- painted binding. The doublures are of paper, decorated with floral motifs on a red ground.

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Historical period(s)
Safavid period, 1645 (1055 A.H.)
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 21.2 x 11.5 cm (8 3/8 x 4 1/2 in)
Geography
Iran, Isfahan
Credit Line
Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler
Collection
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Accession Number
S1986.483
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
Bahram Gur, Henri Vever collection, Iran, music, pavilion, princess, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

Unidentified sale, no. 68 [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] 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. 412.

[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. 236-239, no. 272.

[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) and Custodian(s)

Henri Vever 1854-1942
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; headings in red and blue; 269 folios with 4 sarlawhs (1 verso, 39 verso,105 verso, 192 verso) and 13 paintings; inscriptions (fols. 104 verso, 269 verso); standard page: 2 columns, 17 lines and 1 marginal column with 32 lines.
Binding: The manuscript is in a nineteenth-century lacquer- painted binding. The doublures are of paper, decorated with floral motifs on a red ground.

Inscription(s)

Fol. 104 verso, "the book was finished with the help of the munificent Lord in the month of Rajab of the year [A.H.] 1055 [A.D. August 1645]."
Fol. 269 verso, "bought the Khamsa of Nizami for twenty-eight current tumans."

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. 272, pp. 236-239.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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