A Double-sided Calligraphy by Zarin Qalam, signed by Faqir-i Kashmiri, India, Mughal, circa 1590-1600

Persian manuscript on paper, 3 lines to each side, written in large Nasta'liq script in black ink, one side flecked with gold, smaller panels with paintings of birds, margins ruled in red and gold, polychrome foliate decoration in the outer margins

In good overall condition, some nibbles to leaf edges and a few paper losses with associated repair, calligraphy bold, as viewed.
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This double-sided calligraphic work was executed by the flawless hand of Muhammad Husayn Kashmiri, the most renowned calligrapher during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605), and the early years of his son Jahangir. As his favourite calligrapher, Akbar titled him Zarin Qalam ('Golden Pen'), and commissioned him to write the text of Amir Khosrow's Khamsa which was illustrated by the leading court artists of the day. Now dispersed, leaves from the manuscript are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (two from the former collection are published in M.D. Ekhtiar et al (eds.), Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2011, pp.352-3, no.247).

An Album of calligraphy containing no fewer than fifty-six examples of the pen of Zarin Qalam, some similarly decorated with birds and foliage, was sold in these rooms 18 October 1995, lot 68.