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Lot Essay
The illustrations within this manuscript are identified as:
1. The arrival of the ambassadors to ask for the hand of Zulaykha
2. The slave girls reveal their beauty to Yusuf and ask him to choose one of them
3. Zulaykha as an old begger woman comes out of the reed hut and approaches Yusuf on the road
Mahmud al-Muzahhib was undoubtedly the most important artist of his generation in Bukhara, the leading proponent of the Bukhara school of painting under the Shaybanids, especially the great bibliophile Sultan 'Abd al-Aziz. He was accomplished in all the arts of the book although, as is typical in the West, it is his painting that has been most studied. Binyon, Wilkinson and Gray note that he was "the best and apparently the leading miniaturist of the so-called Bukhara school" (Laurence Binyon, J.V.S.Wilkinson and Basil Gray, Persian Miniature Painting, New York, 1971 reprint, p.106). Ashrafi-Aini, among many plaudits, comments that "Mahmud Muzahhib, a brilliant miniaturist himself, followed in the footsteps of Bihzad's compositions in their general structure, but each time sought to introduce his own scheme of rearrangement and changes. He did it skilfully, never disturbing the general harmony and inner rhythm and order" (Mukaddema Mukhtarovna Ashrafi-Aini, 'The School of Bukhara to c.1550’, in Basil Gray (gen.ed.), Arts of the Book in Central Asia, Paris and London 1979, p.270). He was the leading individual artist at the court whose opulence and artistic sensibility was compared, as noted below, to that of Sultan Husayn Mirza at Herat. Despite his accomplishment as a calligrapher, illuminator and artist, contemporaneous sources say little about Mahmud al-Muzahhib. As a calligrapher he was said to be a pupil of Mir 'Ali in Herat (Armenag Sakisian, 'Mahmud Mudhahib, miniaturiste, enlumineur et calligraphe persan', Ars Islamica, IV, 1937, p.339). As with many artists, including his calligraphic master, he was taken to Bukhara, by the newly ascendant Shaybanid ruler 'Ubaydullah Khan (1512-39) whose capital it was (Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles, 1989, p.306). Mahmud worked particularly closely with 'Ubaydullah Khan's son and eventual successor 'Abd al-Aziz Bahadur Khan (1540-1549), a noted bibliophile. His later works come from the period of 'Abd al-Aziz's successor 'Abdullah. 'Abdullah inherited a city described by Mirza Muhammad Haydar Dughlat, who as a Chagatay was no apologist for the Uzbeks, "Bukhara has become such a centre of arts and sciences that it recalls Herat in the days of Mirza Sultan Husayn" (Ashrafi-Aini, op.cit., Paris and London 1979, p.264). This is high praise indeed.
His recorded works are dated between AH 942/1535-36 AD and AH 963/1555-56 AD. Amongst them are a series of five paintings from a Gulistan of Sa’di which recently sold in these Rooms (4 October 2012, lots 12 and 13, 25 April 2013, lots 26 and 27, and most recently 10 October 2013, lot 15). The Gulistan paintings demonstrate the style that Mahmud continued to practice in Bukhara, continuing what had started as a Herat tradition. However a second style also emerged at Bukhara which is very different, characterised by much simpler compositions with small numbers of much larger figures. This is the style that is found in the paintings that precede the main text of this manuscript of Jami, one of which bears the signature. The style is similar to that of the Keir Collection Bustan of Sa'di, and is a style also used by Mahmud's younger contemporary and student 'Abdullah, as in a AH 983/1575-76 AD manuscript of the same work in the St. Petersburg State Library (M.M.Ashrafi, Persian-Tajik Poetry in XIV-XVII Centuries Miniatures, Dushanbe, 1974, pls.74-75, pp.90-91). The panels of text that are scattered in our manuscript around the figures also appear in an earlier manuscript illustrated by Shaykhzada now in the Freer Gallery, Washington D.C., dating from 1535.
The tradition shown in these paintings is also very close to that of the single or double figure fully worked separate painting, often with the figures under an illuminated arch, of which Mahmud also painted a number including those in the Museum of the Shrine in Mashhad (Binyon, Wilkinson and Gray, op.cit., pls.LXXVI A and B). None of these figure studies are dated so it is difficult to determine whether they were painted throughout his life or whether, as the manuscripts indicate, the majority were painted later in his career.
As a calligrapher a number of his works are known, including a copy of the Forty Sayings of the Prophet, copied in AH 960/1561-62 AD which was sold in these Rooms 7 October 2008, lot 314. As an illuminator, the skill for which he acquired his name, nothing is signed except for panels of illumination that are incorporated into his compositions such as the building seen in a painting, sold in these Rooms, 4 October 2012, lot 12. It is however as an illuminator that he is first recorded, working in Herat on a sumptuous double page for Sultan Husayn Bayqara, which clearly places him in Herat at the end of the Timurid period (Armenag Sakisian, 'Mahmud Mudhahib, miniaturiste, enlumineur et calligraphe person, Ars Islamica, IV, 1937, p.338). Even more detailed illumination however is found in the opening bifoliums of this manuscript and also another which sold in these Rooms, 4 October 2012, lot 14, leading one to wonder if he was also the illuminator of each manuscript, reserving his best work in this area for the double page displays. Both opening double pages are very similar indeed, both in overall design and in detail, consistent with their having been the work of the same artist.
1. The arrival of the ambassadors to ask for the hand of Zulaykha
2. The slave girls reveal their beauty to Yusuf and ask him to choose one of them
3. Zulaykha as an old begger woman comes out of the reed hut and approaches Yusuf on the road
Mahmud al-Muzahhib was undoubtedly the most important artist of his generation in Bukhara, the leading proponent of the Bukhara school of painting under the Shaybanids, especially the great bibliophile Sultan 'Abd al-Aziz. He was accomplished in all the arts of the book although, as is typical in the West, it is his painting that has been most studied. Binyon, Wilkinson and Gray note that he was "the best and apparently the leading miniaturist of the so-called Bukhara school" (Laurence Binyon, J.V.S.Wilkinson and Basil Gray, Persian Miniature Painting, New York, 1971 reprint, p.106). Ashrafi-Aini, among many plaudits, comments that "Mahmud Muzahhib, a brilliant miniaturist himself, followed in the footsteps of Bihzad's compositions in their general structure, but each time sought to introduce his own scheme of rearrangement and changes. He did it skilfully, never disturbing the general harmony and inner rhythm and order" (Mukaddema Mukhtarovna Ashrafi-Aini, 'The School of Bukhara to c.1550’, in Basil Gray (gen.ed.), Arts of the Book in Central Asia, Paris and London 1979, p.270). He was the leading individual artist at the court whose opulence and artistic sensibility was compared, as noted below, to that of Sultan Husayn Mirza at Herat. Despite his accomplishment as a calligrapher, illuminator and artist, contemporaneous sources say little about Mahmud al-Muzahhib. As a calligrapher he was said to be a pupil of Mir 'Ali in Herat (Armenag Sakisian, 'Mahmud Mudhahib, miniaturiste, enlumineur et calligraphe persan', Ars Islamica, IV, 1937, p.339). As with many artists, including his calligraphic master, he was taken to Bukhara, by the newly ascendant Shaybanid ruler 'Ubaydullah Khan (1512-39) whose capital it was (Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles, 1989, p.306). Mahmud worked particularly closely with 'Ubaydullah Khan's son and eventual successor 'Abd al-Aziz Bahadur Khan (1540-1549), a noted bibliophile. His later works come from the period of 'Abd al-Aziz's successor 'Abdullah. 'Abdullah inherited a city described by Mirza Muhammad Haydar Dughlat, who as a Chagatay was no apologist for the Uzbeks, "Bukhara has become such a centre of arts and sciences that it recalls Herat in the days of Mirza Sultan Husayn" (Ashrafi-Aini, op.cit., Paris and London 1979, p.264). This is high praise indeed.
His recorded works are dated between AH 942/1535-36 AD and AH 963/1555-56 AD. Amongst them are a series of five paintings from a Gulistan of Sa’di which recently sold in these Rooms (4 October 2012, lots 12 and 13, 25 April 2013, lots 26 and 27, and most recently 10 October 2013, lot 15). The Gulistan paintings demonstrate the style that Mahmud continued to practice in Bukhara, continuing what had started as a Herat tradition. However a second style also emerged at Bukhara which is very different, characterised by much simpler compositions with small numbers of much larger figures. This is the style that is found in the paintings that precede the main text of this manuscript of Jami, one of which bears the signature. The style is similar to that of the Keir Collection Bustan of Sa'di, and is a style also used by Mahmud's younger contemporary and student 'Abdullah, as in a AH 983/1575-76 AD manuscript of the same work in the St. Petersburg State Library (M.M.Ashrafi, Persian-Tajik Poetry in XIV-XVII Centuries Miniatures, Dushanbe, 1974, pls.74-75, pp.90-91). The panels of text that are scattered in our manuscript around the figures also appear in an earlier manuscript illustrated by Shaykhzada now in the Freer Gallery, Washington D.C., dating from 1535.
The tradition shown in these paintings is also very close to that of the single or double figure fully worked separate painting, often with the figures under an illuminated arch, of which Mahmud also painted a number including those in the Museum of the Shrine in Mashhad (Binyon, Wilkinson and Gray, op.cit., pls.LXXVI A and B). None of these figure studies are dated so it is difficult to determine whether they were painted throughout his life or whether, as the manuscripts indicate, the majority were painted later in his career.
As a calligrapher a number of his works are known, including a copy of the Forty Sayings of the Prophet, copied in AH 960/1561-62 AD which was sold in these Rooms 7 October 2008, lot 314. As an illuminator, the skill for which he acquired his name, nothing is signed except for panels of illumination that are incorporated into his compositions such as the building seen in a painting, sold in these Rooms, 4 October 2012, lot 12. It is however as an illuminator that he is first recorded, working in Herat on a sumptuous double page for Sultan Husayn Bayqara, which clearly places him in Herat at the end of the Timurid period (Armenag Sakisian, 'Mahmud Mudhahib, miniaturiste, enlumineur et calligraphe person, Ars Islamica, IV, 1937, p.338). Even more detailed illumination however is found in the opening bifoliums of this manuscript and also another which sold in these Rooms, 4 October 2012, lot 14, leading one to wonder if he was also the illuminator of each manuscript, reserving his best work in this area for the double page displays. Both opening double pages are very similar indeed, both in overall design and in detail, consistent with their having been the work of the same artist.