Manuscript of the Gulistan of Sa`di, with lacquer binding

Artists

Description

The manuscript opens with double illuminated text pages written in shikasta nasta'liq script. The text areas comprise of 11 lines written in black ink, reserved as clouds over gold ground. The last page provides the name of the scribe (Muhammad 'Ali Munshi Shirazi), the patron (Aqa-yi Sahib....), and the date Rajab 1301 H (April-May 1884). All the text panels have been remounted on thin grayish paper. The lacquer binding has intertwining grape vines growing upward from the ground and filling the entire field with smaller branches and leaves. The decoration is painted in gold over a black ground. The inner surfaces are decorated with a rectangle bisected on four sides by half circles traced in gold over a black ground.

Dimensions

23.8 × 14.1 × 1.8 cm (9 3/8 × 5 9/16 × 11/16 in.) Text area: 11 × 6.5 cm (4 5/16 × 2 9/16 in.)

Provenance

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.