Lot 38
38
A CALLIGRAM IN THE FORM OF A LION
A CALLIGRAM IN THE FORM OF A LION
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PROPERTY FROM A NOBLE FRENCH FAMILY
A CALLIGRAM IN THE FORM OF A LION

AFTER MIR 'ALI HARAVI, SAFAVID BUKHARA OR HERAT, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Details
A CALLIGRAM IN THE FORM OF A LION
AFTER MIR 'ALI HARAVI, SAFAVID BUKHARA OR HERAT, LATE 17TH CENTURY
Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, within pink and green borders with gold meandering floral decoration, the light pink margins with gold arabesque decoration, the verso with 12ll. of diagonal black nasta'liq within clouds reserved against a gold ground decorated with polychrome flowers, the blue margins painted with gold animals and vegetation, a black seal impression in the upper margin, mounted, framed and glazed on both sides
Calligram 5 ¼ x 7 ¾in. (13.2 x 19.6cm.); calligraphy 10 5⁄8 x 2 7/8in. (27 x 7.3cm.); folio 15 x 10 3/8in. (38 x 26.4cm.)
Provenance
Drouot-Richelieu, Paris, 5 December 1994, lot 288

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Lot Essay

During the Safavid period, the lion was a popular subject of zoomorphic calligraphic compositions, as a representation of 'Ali bin Abi Talib, known as 'the Lion of God'. Here, the lion is composed of the Nad 'Ali ('call upon 'Ali') supplication that honours the son-in-law of Muhammad. It is copied after a well-known calligram by the celebrated early 16th century calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi, in the Istanbul University Library (F1426, f. 46a; published Sheila Blair, Islamic Calligraphy, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, p. 450).

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