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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2009.202.260
Title
Small Dragon in Foliage
Other Titles
Alternate Title: A Dragon-Drawing on Flecked Gold Paper
Classification
Albums
Work Type
album folio
Date
late 16th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Türkiye (Turkey)
Period
Ottoman period
Culture
Ottoman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/216941

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink on off-white gold-flecked paper
Dimensions
9.5 x 10.3 cm (3 3/4 x 4 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Stuart Cary Welch (by 1983 - 2008,) by descent; to his estate (2008-2009,) gift; to Harvard Art Museum.

Notes:
Object was part of long-term loan to Museum in 1983.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Stuart Cary Welch Collection, Gift of Edith I. Welch in memory of Stuart Cary Welch
Accession Year
2009
Object Number
2009.202.260
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This small, but highly animated and energetic drawing depicts a dragon enmeshed with a spiral of saz foliage. Originating in a single point--a curled root clutched in the dragon's tiny claw at center right--the vine bears serrated leaves, five-petaled blossoms, and complex palmettes. With particular emphasis to the dragon's backbone, the artist has exerted superb control of the swelling and tapering of line.

Publication History

  • Stuart Cary Welch and Kim Masteller, From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from the Stuart Cary Welch Collection, exh. cat., Yale University Press (New Haven, 2004), pp.52-53, no. 7

Exhibition History

  • Transformations: Asia East and West, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 12/19/1992 - 02/14/1993
  • From Mind, Heart, and Hand: Persian, Turkish, and Indian Drawings from SCWelch, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 03/19/2005 - 06/02/2005
  • The Tablet and the Pen: Drawings from the Islamic World, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/18/2006 - 07/23/2006

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