THE PAINTING SAFAVID ISFAHAN, 17TH CENTURY; THE CALLIGRAPHY SAFAVID IRAN, 17TH CENTURY

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A YOUTH WITH A PANPIPE AND NASTA'LIQ CALLIGRAPHY

THE PAINTING SAFAVID ISFAHAN, 17TH CENTURY; THE CALLIGRAPHY SAFAVID IRAN, 17TH CENTURY
Recto with opaque pigments heightened with gold depicting a youth wearing a tall hat and purple coat playing a harp, around him gold flowers and clouds, laid down between blue borders with panels of black nasta’liq on pink margins with gold floral illumination, verso with a panel of nasta’liq calligraphy comprising three couplets on the diagonal and horizontal, within a pink border with smaller panels of nasta’liq on blue margins with gold floral decoration
Painting 6 x 3 1/8in. (16.1 x 7.9cm.); calligraphy 6 x 3in. (15 x 7.6cm.); folio 11 3/8 x 6 7/8in. (29 x 17.6cm.)

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Lot Essay

Drawings of Safavid youths with musical instruments were a popular subject. However, depictions of the panpipes are not as common in Safavid paintings. Our young musician has unique facial features, topped with a pointed fur hat which was a common attire for young men depicted in single page portraits. A drawing by Muhammad Mu‘min illustrating a youth playing a panpipe, catalogued as circa. 1580-90 is in the Museum of Fine Art Boston (B.W. Robinson, Persian Drawings from the 14th Through the 19th Century, Canada, 1965, p.77)

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