ManuscriptsOttoman19th century

Frontispiece with a decorated sarlawh (blank recto; text verso of folio 2), from a manuscript of the Ruba‘yyat by ‘Umar Khayyam

1845

Description

The small manuscript of 72 folios opens with an illuminated European-style sarlawh featuring flowers and acanthus leaves. The text is written in Ottoman ta‘liq script. The preface in Ottoman Turkish is arranged in 17 lines to a page, and the verses 12 lines in two columns. Colored papers are used throughout the text. All the folios are decorated with horizontal bars in gold and blue/green separating the quatrains. The manuscript is copied by Sayyid 'Abdi in 1261/1845. The green leather binding is gilded, and the doublure (inside cove is covered with blue paper with embossed patterns.

Classification

Manuscripts

Medium

Ink, colors, and gold on paper

Culture

Ottoman

Period

Ottoman period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

20 x 14 cm (7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), loan; to Harvard Art Museums, 2015. 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.