Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209)

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta’liq script; illuminated headings in white; 239 folios with 4 sarlawhs (fols. 1 verso, 74 verso, 124 verso, 172 verso), 17 paintings (fols. 12 recto, 20 verso, 36 verso, 39 verso, 61 verso, 100recto, 102 verso, 105 verso, 107 verso, 113recto, 117 verso, 133 verso, 149 verso, 152recto, 166 verso, 212recto), and 60 imprints of three seals; standard page: 4 columns, 21 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is in a nineteenth-century lacquer-painted binding and doublures of gold floral motifs on red ground.

Historical period(s)
Safavid period, ca. 1570-1580
Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 31.5 x 20.4 cm (12 3/8 x 8 1/16 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
S1986.59
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Manuscript
Type

Manuscript

Keywords
flower, Henri Vever collection, Iran, Safavid period (1501 - 1722)
Provenance

1908
Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Unidentified Sale, November 24, 1908. [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] "Unidentified sale, Hôtel Drouot, November 24, 1908," 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. 229-231, no. 260.

[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)

Hotel Drouot
Henri Vever 1854-1942
Francois Mautin 1907-2003

Description

Manuscript; Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami; text: Persian in black nasta'liq script; illuminated headings in white; 239 folios with 4 sarlawhs (fols. 1 verso, 74 verso, 124 verso, 172 verso), 17 paintings (fols. 12 recto, 20 verso, 36 verso, 39 verso, 61 verso, 100recto, 102 verso, 105 verso, 107 verso, 113recto, 117 verso, 133 verso, 149 verso, 152recto, 166 verso, 212recto), and 60 imprints of three seals; standard page: 4 columns, 21 lines of text.
Binding: The manuscript is in a nineteenth-century lacquer-painted binding and doublures of gold floral motifs on red ground.

Inscription(s)

Seals: God loves the beneficent, oval: fols: 2, 21,100, 113,152, 166, 212, 239 rectos. Fols: 36, 61, 102, 105, 107, 117, 133, 149, 172 versos.
God loves the beneficent, [A.H.] 1183 [A.D. 1769-70], oval: fols: 2, 12, 21,100, 113, 152, 166, 212, 239, 173 rectos. Fols: 20, 36, 39, 61 74,102, 105, 107,124, 133, 149, 172 versos.
God loses not the wages of the good, from Sura al-Tawba (the Repentance), sura 9: 120; [A.H.] 116[?] [A.D. 174?]; square: fols. 2, 21,113, 100, 118,152, 212, 239, 166 rectos. Fols: 20, 36, 39, 61, 102, 105, 107, 117, 133, 149, 172 versos.

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. 260, pp. 229-231.
Collection Area(s)
Arts of the Islamic World
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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