2002.50.24: Illuminated folio from an unidentified manuscript
ManuscriptsIdentification and Creation
- Object Number
- 2002.50.24
- Title
- Illuminated folio from an unidentified manuscript
- Classification
- Manuscripts
- Work Type
- manuscript folio
- Date
- 16th century
- Places
- Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
- Period
- Safavid period
- Culture
- Persian
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/97425
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Black ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on beige paper
- Dimensions
- 26.5 x 14.6 cm (10 7/16 x 5 3/4 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
- 2002.50.24
- Division
- Asian and Mediterranean Art
- Contact
- am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Descriptions
- Description
-
This page features a shamsa (sun), an illuminated medallion in which the title of a book or chapter was often inscribed. This shamsa is composed of abstract and floral forms in gold and blue surrounding a plain gold circular center, which has been repainted. An underlying inscription is detectable via X-ray, but unfortunately only one word can be read: as?abi (lords or possessors).
Repainting aside, the shamsa is executed with delicate brushwork and careful attention to detail. Balanced and symmetrical in composition and palette, it compares well with other illumination produced in Central Asia and Iran during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
103
Illuminated folio from an unidentified manuscript
Recto: blank except for later inscriptions, now illegibly blurred
Verso: shamsa
Iran or Central Asia, Safavid or Shaybanid period, 16th–17th century
Black ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on beige paper
Folio: 26.5 × 14.6 cm (10 7/16 × 5 3/4 in.)
2002.50.24
This page features a shamsa (sun), an illuminated medallion in which the title of a book or chapter was often inscribed. This shamsa is composed of abstract and floral forms in gold and blue surrounding a plain gold circular center, which has been repainted. An underlying inscription is detectable via X-ray, but unfortunately only one word can be read: asḥabi (lords or possessors).
Repainting aside, the shamsa is executed with delicate brushwork and careful attention to detail. Balanced and symmetrical in composition and palette, it compares well with other illumination produced in Central Asia and Iran during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
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. 242, cat. 103, ill.
Exhibition History
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