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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.403
Title
Manuscript of the Farmayishat-i Hazrat `Ali (Commands of Imam `Ali), with lacquer binding
Classification
Manuscripts
Work Type
manuscript
Date
1864
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351918

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, platy hematite particles, and lacquer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)
Dimensions
29.8 × 18.8 × 1.6 cm (11 3/4 × 7 3/8 × 5/8 in.)
Text area: 19.8 × 10.5 cm (7 13/16 × 4 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

Note:
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar
Accession Year
2014
Object Number
2014.403
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The manuscript opens with an illuminated heading. The Arabic text is copied in black ink in naskh script with interlinear translation in Persian in nastaliq script in red ink. It ends with four lines of thuluth text praising the Qajar ruler Nasir al-Din Shah followed by the copyist's name and date, Ahmad al Shirazi al-Mutakhallis bi'l-Vaqar, 1281 (1864-65). The lacquer binding has a floating bouquet of mixed flowers on the outside. The inner covers are decorated with a central medallion and pendants filled with flowers set against a red ground filled with a floral arabesque in gold.

Publication History

  • Massumeh Farhad and Mary McWilliams, ed., A Collector’s Passion: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Harvard Art Museums and Freer/Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution (Cambridge, MA/Washington, D.C., 2017), p. 103, cat. 23

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