SAFAVID IRAN, CIRCA 1575

This folio relates to a group of eight which come from two manuscripts of Jami in the Chester Beatty Library (Robinson, 1960, cat.209-210). These include five finely illustrated leaves from a copy of Jami's Salaman wa Absal which has scrolls decorated with various waq-waq motifs including numerous human faces and three leaves from Jami's Subhat al-Abrar, similarly illuminated, but the scrolls are simply decorated with leaves and palmettes – like ours. The figures painted within the marginal medallions show musicians, half-length figures and other seated figures depicted frontally in a very similar way to those visible on our manuscript. Robinson describes them as ‘painted in the simplified form of the metropolitan ‘Qazvin’ style practiced circa 1565-85’ (Robinson, 1960, p.73). Similar examples that have sold at auction include, Christie’s, London, 5 October 2010, lot 227, 26 April 2012, lot 30 and 10 April 2014, lot 3.