Page of calligraphy, lion and male figure

second half of 16th century

Object PlaceIran

Medium/TechniqueOpaque watercolor, gold and ink on paper

DimensionsHeight x width: 45.5 × 30 cm (17 15/16 × 11 13/16 in.)

Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from the Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 and by contribution

Accession number14.583

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts

Collections

InscriptionsCalligraphy at top in cursive nasta'liq ("hanging") script, signed by Shah Mahmud of Nishapur (died 1564-5); calligraphy at left in nasta'liq script, signed in lower triangle by Mir Ali al-Heravi (died 1559 or earlier). Later inscriptions on drawings: "Portrait of Muhammadi done by Muhammadi" (above) and "Done by Amir Ali Sher" (below). Seal of "Abbas" (Shah Abbas I, ruled 1587-1629), dated equivalent to 1587, at upper right of portrait.ProvenanceBy 1912, Victor Goloubew (b. 1879 - d. 1945), Paris [see note 1]; 1914, sold by Goloubew through M. Meyer-Riefstahl to the MFA for $76,999.81 (total price for 14.532-700). (Accession Date: June 4, 1914)

NOTES:
[1] Victor Goloubew was born in Russia but lived in Paris by the time of this acquisition. He formed this collection of Persian and Indian miniature paintings and exhibited it at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris from 1912 to 1914 (Paull, Florence Virginia. "The Goloubew Collection of Persian and Indian Paintings." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin. Vol. XIII. No. 74. (February 1915) 1-16).