2014.406: Manuscript of the Divan of Sa’di, with lacquer binding

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2014.406

People

Mahmud Muzahhib-bashi

Title

Manuscript of the Divan of Sa’di, with lacquer binding

Classification

Manuscripts

Work Type

manuscript

Date

1920-1922

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran

Period

Qajar period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/351922

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, platy hematite particles, and lacquer on pasteboard (covers) Ink, gold, and colors on paper (text)

Dimensions

24.4 × 16 × 3 cm (9 5/8 × 6 5/16 × 1 3/16 in.)
Text area: 16.5 × 8.8 cm (6 1/2 × 3 7/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription:
  Cover:
  
  رقم احقار عباد محمود مذهب باشي١٣٤٠
  
  Work of the most humble of servants, Mahmud, chief illuminator; [the year] 1921-22

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

2014.406

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Description

The manuscript opens with double illuminated text pages. The text is copied in nasta`liq script in two columns,15 lines to a page. The colophon on the last page of the manuscript provides the name of the patron, Mirza Muhammad Taqi Khan Mu'ayyad al-Mulk and copied in red ink, the name of the scribe, 'Ali Naqi al-Sharif al-Shirazi, and the date 1339 H. (1920-1921). The lacquer covers are signed by Mahmud Muzahhib-Bashi (Mahmud the Illuminator) dated 1340 H. (1921-1922). The outer covers are decorated with a large central medallion and corner pieces that are filled with flowering intertwining branches. The inner covers are decorated with a large iris painted in gold on dark brown.

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. 26, ill.; p. 106, cat. 30

Verification Level