Calligraphic Composition in the Shape of a Bird
1804
Description
In this tripartite calligraphic composition, the panels on the right and on the left consist of Qur'anic inscriptions, while in the center there is an image of a bird perched on a flowering branch, also composed from verses of the Qur'an. A decorative border, with flowering scrolls painted on a blue background, divides and frames the panels. The texts at the corners and on the side panels are surrounded by a cloud form in reserve, with gold or red hatching pattern in the background. The central panel is a calligram. Verses from the Qur'an are here arranged to form the bird and flowering branch, creating tension between the text and the image. The verses, including sura 57 (al-Hadid), sura 112 (al-Ikhlas) and sura 108 (al-Kauthar), are copied in naskhi script. The composition is dated H. 1219/1804 and signed in three places by the calligrapher Abd al-Sattar.
Dimensions
26.7 x 38.7 cm (10 1/2 x 15 1/4 in.)
Provenance
[Adrienne Minassian, New York, 30 October 1973], sold; to Edwin Binney, 3rd, California, (1973-1986), bequest; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2012. NOTE: Stored at the San Diego Museum of Art from some time before 1986 until 1991, then at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from 1991-2011.
Related Artworks
View MoreAlbum leaf; ink on paper
ChineseAlbum leaf; ink on paper
ChineseInk, color and gold on paper
19th centuryIndianLetter mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper
16th-17th centuryJapaneseThread-bound book form; ink on decorated paper with designs in gold and silver
18th centuryJapaneseOne of a pair of hanging scrolls now mounted as the first and second panels of a ten-panel folding screen; ink on paper decorated with designs of auspicious emblems and fruiting and blossoming branches painted in ink and pigments and also with designs of scrolling clouds painted (or printed?) in metallic pigment; with signature of the artist reading "Cha-ha"; with one square, red, relief seal of the artist reading "Cha Ha"
19th centuryKorean
Ink on paper
20th centuryJapaneseHandscroll; ink on paper
ChineseHandscroll; ink on decorated paper with gold
17th centuryJapaneseInk on paper
13th centuryJapaneseHandscroll; ink on mica-coated paper with silver and light color
17th centuryJapanese