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AN ALBUM OF CALLIGRAPHIES, PERSIA AND INDIA, 16TH CENTURY AND LATER |
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
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Description
- each album leaf: 31 by 20cm.
Persian manuscript on paper, comprising 14 album pages with calligraphy written in fine nasta'liq in black ink by different hands, the borders with varying styles of illumination, f.14b with a Mughal portrait of a standing nobleman, loose, in later binding
Condition
In good condition, disbound, the margins later added and suffering some losses to the drawings as well as to the paper, smudges and minor restorations, occasional re-ink and repainting to the indian portrait, some pencil marks and annotation througout, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The album pages are signed by the following calligraphers: f.1a: Sultan Muhammad
f.2a: Sultan ‘Ali al-Mashhadi al-katib.
A celebrated nasta’liq calligrapher of the Timurid court of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara in Herat. He was well-known, respected and his work sought after even during his lifetime. He was a contemporary of the poet ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami and copied many of his verse and prose texts. After the death of his patron, he returned to his hometown Mashhad and died on 29 February 1520. His recorded work includes inscriptions, manuscripts and calligraphic pages and are dated between 849 AH/1445-6 AD and 921 AH/1515-16 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-navisan, vol.1, Tehran, 1345 sh, pp.241-66 and Minorsky, Calligrapher’s and Painters, Washington 1959, pp.101-3).
f.4a: Muhammad ‘Ali
f.4b: Sultan Mahmud Turbati, copied in Qandahar, dated 907 AH/1501 AD
f.5a: Muhammad Husayn
f.5b: Mir ‘Ali
Most probably, Mir ‘Ali al-Harawi (d. post 1544-5), a famous calligrapher at the Timurid court of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who was among the artists taken to Bukhara after the capture of Herat by the Uzbaks in 1528-29. His recorded work is dated between 914 AH/1508-09 AD and 951 AH/1544-45 AD (for more on him see lot 31 and Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.2, Tehran, 1346 sh, pp.493-516).
f.6a: Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi
Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shihabi al-Harawi is a famous sixteenth century calligrapher, mentioned in many literary sources as a great master of nasta’liq. Bayani, who includes various sources, records him as the son of Khwajah Ishaq Shihabi Siyavashani, who was the Mayer of Herat at the time of the capture of the city by the Uzbaks in 1528-29, and taken to Bukhara together with his family and other artists, such as the celebrated Mir ‘Ali who took on Mahmud as a pupil (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh, pp.876-80; V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, 1959, p.131; Adamova-Bayani, Persian Painting, The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, 2015, pp.421-3).
f.9b: ‘Abd al-Rahim Rawshan Qalam, Jahangir Shahi, dated 1020 AH/1611-12AD
‘Abd al-Rahim Rawshan Qalam was originally from Herat, and left for India to the court of ‘Abd al-Rahim Khan-e Khanan, later to enter the court of Emperor Jahangir, who titled him ‘Anbarin Qalam, described as the second after Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri. His recorded works are dated between 999 AH/1590-91 AD and 1034 AH/1624-45 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.2, Tehran, 1346 sh, pp.389-91).
f.10a: Muhammad Salih, dated 977 AH/1588-89 AD
A Muhammad Salih Bukhara’i is recorded by Bayani as a pupil of Mahmud ibn Ishaq Shahabi, and contemporary with the Shaybanid rulers of Bukhara: Iskandar and ‘Abdullah (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh, p.774).
f.10b: Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri
Shah Mahmud of Nishapur known as Zarrin Qalam was a companion to Shah Tahmasp working in the Royal Library in Tabriz. After Shah Tahmasp’s change of heart in the Library, he was permitted to move to Mashhad where he spent the rest of his life earning his living by teaching pupils and copying manuscripts. His recorded works are dated between 923 AH/1517 AD and 982 AH/1574 AD. (For more on him see lot 31 and Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vols. 1 & 2, Tehran, 1345 & 1346, pp.295-307).
f.11a: Mir Husayn
He may be the same as Mir Sayyid Husayn, recorded by Bayani as an obscure calligrapher whose only recorded work, dated 1061 AH and Shah Jahan [regnal] year 24, indicates that he was a calligrapher most probably at the court of the Mughul emperor Shah Jahan (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.1, Tehran, 1345, p.149).
f.11b: Mahmud Ishaq Shahabi (same as f.6a)
f.12a: Muhammad Husayn al-Husayni al-Katib
Possibly the same scribe who copied an abridged Khamsa of Nizami in Qazvin in 982 AH/1574-75 AD, now in the Topkapi Palace Library (Topkapi cat. no.483).
f.13a: ‘Ali
Absence of any attributes makes it difficult to identify the calligrapher. However, there is one work in the Topkapi signed ‘Ali dated 944 AH/1537-38 AD who might be by the same calligrapher (Topkapi cat. no.910).
f.13b: Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi (same as f.6a and 11b)
f.14a: Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri
Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri (d.1611-12), the most famous Mughal calligrapher of his time, who received the title Zarin Qalam from Akbar and worked at the court of Jahangir, signing his work as Akbar Shahi and Jahangir Shahi. His recorded work, which includes six calligraphies in the Gulshan Album in the Gulistan Library in Tehran as well as in other albums, is dated between 988 AH/1580-81 AD and 1017 AH/1608-09 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va asar-e khosh-nevisan, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh., pp.702-4).
The unsigned pages include, pages from various manuscripts, including: the mathnavi of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi; the divan of Amir Khusraw Dehlavi; from an anthology of poems including the Kashkul of Shaykh Baha’i and Sa’di’s Bustan, with a few not identified.
f.2a: Sultan ‘Ali al-Mashhadi al-katib.
A celebrated nasta’liq calligrapher of the Timurid court of Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara in Herat. He was well-known, respected and his work sought after even during his lifetime. He was a contemporary of the poet ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami and copied many of his verse and prose texts. After the death of his patron, he returned to his hometown Mashhad and died on 29 February 1520. His recorded work includes inscriptions, manuscripts and calligraphic pages and are dated between 849 AH/1445-6 AD and 921 AH/1515-16 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-navisan, vol.1, Tehran, 1345 sh, pp.241-66 and Minorsky, Calligrapher’s and Painters, Washington 1959, pp.101-3).
f.4a: Muhammad ‘Ali
f.4b: Sultan Mahmud Turbati, copied in Qandahar, dated 907 AH/1501 AD
f.5a: Muhammad Husayn
f.5b: Mir ‘Ali
Most probably, Mir ‘Ali al-Harawi (d. post 1544-5), a famous calligrapher at the Timurid court of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, who was among the artists taken to Bukhara after the capture of Herat by the Uzbaks in 1528-29. His recorded work is dated between 914 AH/1508-09 AD and 951 AH/1544-45 AD (for more on him see lot 31 and Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.2, Tehran, 1346 sh, pp.493-516).
f.6a: Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi
Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shihabi al-Harawi is a famous sixteenth century calligrapher, mentioned in many literary sources as a great master of nasta’liq. Bayani, who includes various sources, records him as the son of Khwajah Ishaq Shihabi Siyavashani, who was the Mayer of Herat at the time of the capture of the city by the Uzbaks in 1528-29, and taken to Bukhara together with his family and other artists, such as the celebrated Mir ‘Ali who took on Mahmud as a pupil (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh, pp.876-80; V. Minorsky, Calligraphers and Painters, 1959, p.131; Adamova-Bayani, Persian Painting, The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, 2015, pp.421-3).
f.9b: ‘Abd al-Rahim Rawshan Qalam, Jahangir Shahi, dated 1020 AH/1611-12AD
‘Abd al-Rahim Rawshan Qalam was originally from Herat, and left for India to the court of ‘Abd al-Rahim Khan-e Khanan, later to enter the court of Emperor Jahangir, who titled him ‘Anbarin Qalam, described as the second after Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri. His recorded works are dated between 999 AH/1590-91 AD and 1034 AH/1624-45 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.2, Tehran, 1346 sh, pp.389-91).
f.10a: Muhammad Salih, dated 977 AH/1588-89 AD
A Muhammad Salih Bukhara’i is recorded by Bayani as a pupil of Mahmud ibn Ishaq Shahabi, and contemporary with the Shaybanid rulers of Bukhara: Iskandar and ‘Abdullah (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh, p.774).
f.10b: Shah Mahmud al-Nishapuri
Shah Mahmud of Nishapur known as Zarrin Qalam was a companion to Shah Tahmasp working in the Royal Library in Tabriz. After Shah Tahmasp’s change of heart in the Library, he was permitted to move to Mashhad where he spent the rest of his life earning his living by teaching pupils and copying manuscripts. His recorded works are dated between 923 AH/1517 AD and 982 AH/1574 AD. (For more on him see lot 31 and Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vols. 1 & 2, Tehran, 1345 & 1346, pp.295-307).
f.11a: Mir Husayn
He may be the same as Mir Sayyid Husayn, recorded by Bayani as an obscure calligrapher whose only recorded work, dated 1061 AH and Shah Jahan [regnal] year 24, indicates that he was a calligrapher most probably at the court of the Mughul emperor Shah Jahan (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va athar-e khosh-nevisan-e nasta’liq, vol.1, Tehran, 1345, p.149).
f.11b: Mahmud Ishaq Shahabi (same as f.6a)
f.12a: Muhammad Husayn al-Husayni al-Katib
Possibly the same scribe who copied an abridged Khamsa of Nizami in Qazvin in 982 AH/1574-75 AD, now in the Topkapi Palace Library (Topkapi cat. no.483).
f.13a: ‘Ali
Absence of any attributes makes it difficult to identify the calligrapher. However, there is one work in the Topkapi signed ‘Ali dated 944 AH/1537-38 AD who might be by the same calligrapher (Topkapi cat. no.910).
f.13b: Mahmud ibn Ishaq al-Shahabi (same as f.6a and 11b)
f.14a: Muhammad Husayn al-Kashmiri
Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri (d.1611-12), the most famous Mughal calligrapher of his time, who received the title Zarin Qalam from Akbar and worked at the court of Jahangir, signing his work as Akbar Shahi and Jahangir Shahi. His recorded work, which includes six calligraphies in the Gulshan Album in the Gulistan Library in Tehran as well as in other albums, is dated between 988 AH/1580-81 AD and 1017 AH/1608-09 AD (Mehdi Bayani, ahval va asar-e khosh-nevisan, vol.3, Tehran, 1348 sh., pp.702-4).
The unsigned pages include, pages from various manuscripts, including: the mathnavi of Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi; the divan of Amir Khusraw Dehlavi; from an anthology of poems including the Kashkul of Shaykh Baha’i and Sa’di’s Bustan, with a few not identified.