Lot 36: TWO LARGE PERSIAN QAJAR SHAHNAMA MANUSCRIPT LEAVES, 19TH CENTURY

Two detached Persian manuscript leaves from a copy of the Shahnama (Book of Kings), executed in opaque pigments, ink, and gold on paper. The miniatures are painted in the 19th-century Qajar style, characterised by figures with heavy joined eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes.

The first leaf illustrates an enthroned monarch, likely Shah Anushirvan, seated cross-legged on a gold-decorated dais within a palace interior. He is surrounded by male courtiers in robes and turbans, and soldiers in mail armour. To the right is a group of women in colourful attire. A mountainous landscape is visible through the palace architecture. Above the scene is a panel containing four columns of Persian Nastaliq script written in black ink.

The second leaf depicts the introduction of a board game, possibly chess or backgammon, to the Persian court. A group of high-ranking officials and envoys are gathered around a low game table in an outdoor rocky landscape. In the upper register, figures are shown tending to camels and horses. A panel of four columns of Persian Nastaliq script is positioned above the illustration.

The text on both the recto and verso of the leaves is written in black Nastaliq script, arranged in four columns with gold-ruled borders and inter-columnar divisions. The reverse of each leaf contains full pages of calligraphy.

43 by 27.5cm each