Folio from a Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020); recto: Lahhak and Farshidward before Afrasiyab; verso: text

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Husayni (known as) Mawsili

• Patron

  Qiwam al-Dawla wa'l-Din

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi, text: Persian in black naskh script, heading in red; recto: text, Turanian received news of the death of their heroes, six columns, 30 lines; verso: illustration "Lahhak and Farshiward before Afrasiyab" and text, The escape of Lahhak and Farshidward, six columns, 18 lines; one of a group of eleven folios. Patron: Qiwam al-Dawla wa'l-Din Inju.

  Border: The text and painting are set in red and black rulings on cream-colored paper.

• Inscriptions

  Stamps: London Exhib 1931 VV12; Douanes Paris Expos

• Provenance

  Georges Tabbagh, Paris, France. [1]

  To 1942

  Henri Vever (1854-1942), Paris and Noyers, France. [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. 401.

  [2] See note 1.

  [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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henri Vever (1854-1942)

  Georges Tabbagh (b. ca. 1870)

  Francois Mautin (1907-2003)

• Origin

  Shiraz, 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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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Mautin, Francois Albert, Vever, Henri, Tabbagh, Georges

• Place

  Shiraz

• Topic

  Art, Henri Vever collection, Inju dynasty (1335 - 1357), Arts of the Islamic World, Mongol period (1220 - 1380), Shahnama, Epic literature

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians, Afrasiyabs

• Object Type

  Manuscripts