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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.50.18
Title
Bahram Gur in the Sandalwood Pavilion (painting, verso; text, recto), folio from a manuscript of the Khamsa (Haft Paykar) by Nizami
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript folio
Date
early 17th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Safavid period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/165380

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Dimensions
26.2 x 16.1 cm (10 5/16 x 6 5/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (by 1998-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.50.18
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This work illustrates the episode of Bahram Gur visiting the Chinese princess Yaghme in her sandalwood pavilion.
Here, too, the king and his bride sit together, served and entertained by female attendants and musicians, and colors of their clothing—gold and white—correspond with those of the pavilion dome. Although the figures are now larger in scale and their hair and headdress styles somewhat different, this painting, in comparison with the earlier one, shows the iconographic continuity of Safavid-period illustrations of the Haft paykar. Due to pigment deterioration, the appearance of the painting is seriously compromised.

Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
151

Bahram Gur in the Sandalwood Pavilion
Folio from a manuscript of the Haft paykar by Nizami
Recto: text
Verso: text and illustration
Iran, Safavid period, early 17th century
Black ink, opaque watercolor, gold, silver, and punch work on off-white paper, with underdrawing in black ink
Folio: 26.2 × 16.1 cm (10 5/16 × 6 5/16 in.)
2002.50.18

This work illustrates the same episode as cat. 111: Bahram Gur visiting the Chinese princess Yaghme in her sandalwood pavilion. Here, too, the king and his bride sit together, served and entertained by female attendants and musicians, and colors of their clothing—gold and white—correspond with those of the pavilion dome. Although the figures are now larger in scale and their hair and headdress styles somewhat different, this painting, in comparison with the earlier one, shows the iconographic continuity of Safavid-period illustrations of the Haft paykar. Due to pigment deterioration, the appearance of the painting is seriously compromised.

Mika M. Natif

Publication History

  • Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 273, cat. 151, ill.

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu