Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets
Afdal al-Din Khaqani (d.1186), Tuhfat al-Iraqayn (A description of the poet's pilgrimage from Shirvan to Mecca), copied by Muhammad Husayn Shirazi, Persia, Tehran, Qajar, dated 1270 AH/1853-54 AD
Auction Closed
October 26, 12:30 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Persian manuscript on paper, 162 leaves, plus 11 fly-leaves, 10 lines to the page, written in black nasta'liq within clouds reserved against a gold ground, headings in red, text arranged in two columns, ruled in blue and gold, f.1b-2a with illuminated frontispiece, a further illuminated bifolio on f.161b-162a with colophon, signed and dated, in cloth binding, brown leather doublures
15.6 by 9.8cm.
Muhammad Husayn Shirazi is recorded by Bayani, who considers him as one the best ten calligraphers of the nasta’liq style who worked at the court of Nasir al-Din Shah. His mastery of the script is evidenced both on a large-scale, such as inscriptions in the mausoleum of Imamzadeh ‘Abdullah in Rey, and on a small scale, as shown by this work.
Husayn Shirazi received the title Katib al-Sultan ‘Royal scribe’ from him and often signed as katib-e hazrat-e sultani as in the present manuscript. He continued his position as a royal scribe under Muzaffar al-Din Shah and recorded works by the scribe, mainly in the Gulistan Palace Library, are dated between 1854 and 1898 (Bayani 1348, pp.1689-94), including a calligraphic panel sold in these rooms, 3 October 2012, lot 62. This finely illuminated work is dated 1270 AH/1853-54 AD and appears to be the earliest recorded work by the master scribe.
For a Safavid copy of the same manuscript, see lot 23 in the present sale.