Lot 35: AN ILLUMINATED AND ILLUSTRATED SAFAVID MANUSCRIPT LEAF DEPICTING A ROYAL COURT SCENE FROM THE SHAHNAMEH, PERSIA, 17TH CENTURY

AN ILLUMINATED AND ILLUSTRATED SAFAVID MANUSCRIPT LEAF DEPICTING A ROYAL COURT SCENE FROM THE SHAHNAMEH, PERSIA, 17TH CENTURY

A Safavid-era Persian illuminated manuscript leaf executed in opaque watercolour, shell gold, and ink on paper. The central miniature painting depicts a royal court scene featuring an enthroned ruler seated beneath a canopy, surrounded by courtiers, musicians playing a lute and flute, and various attendants. Below the main dais, a formal garden courtyard features a central octagonal fountain containing ducks, flanked by groups of figures engaged in conversation. The composition is set within an elaborate architectural framework featuring intricate geometric tilework patterns known as girih and floral scrollwork borders called islimi. The figures are dressed in traditional period attire, including various turban styles and robes with gold-heightened textile patterns. A dark-skinned official or servant is visible in the lower left group. The leaf includes text in Nasta’liq script arranged in panels: a four-column panel at the top within a gold-flecked border, and two rectangular panels at the base. The lower left panel reads ‘شراور را از پی گفت و گو / به پاسخ گذر از انچه آیدت یاد’ and the lower right panel reads ‘سه پوشیده و پنج ران به هم جو / فریدون به سام بد نیکوند’, identifying the verses as being from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.

34 by 17.5cm