English: THE HEROES LAHHAK AND FARSHIDVARD HUNT, FROM THE STORY OF THE TWELVE CHAMPIONS (DAVAZDA RUKH)

TEXT BY MURSHID AL-KATIB SHIRAZI, SAFAVID SHIRAZ, AH 945/1539 AD

An illustration from the Shahnama of Firdawsi, opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, four columns of black nasta'liq above and below, within gold rules, the text to the reverse arranged in a similar format, mounted, framed Painting 8 ¼ x 5 1/8in. (21 x 13cm.); text panel 10 3/8 x 5 ¾in. (26.3 x 14.4cm.); folio 15 x 9 ¾in. (38.2 x 24.8cm.)

This folio comes from an incomplete Shahnama now in the Keir Collection on loan to Dallas Museum of Art, published in B.W. Robinson et.al., Islamic Art from the Keir Collection, London, 1988, pp.12-18, pls.7-9 (see also, Ernst J. Grube, Islamic Paintings from the 11th to the 18th Centuries in the Colelction of Hans P. Kraus, Germany, 1972, nos.114-27). The Keir Collection manuscript is dated to the end of Dhu'l-Hijja, AH 945/May 1539 AD and signed by Murshid al-Katib al-Shirazi. It was previously in the Kevorkian Collection, sold at Sotheby's, 6 December 1967, lot 196 where it entered the Hans P. Kraus Collection. B.W. Robinson notes that the miniatures in this manuscript were probably all completed by the same artist "of rare talent and fertile imagination, who stands head and shoulders above most contemporary Shiraz painters" (op. cit., p.16). The playful sense of humour of our artist (ibid.) is aptly expressed in this lively scene through details such as the figure ambitiously attempting to subdue two deer, and another who looks over to his fallen headgear as he grapples with a lion. The skill of our artist was further displayed in a folio from this manuscript which sold in these Rooms, 1 April 2021, lot 14 and displayed features comparable to early Tabriz painting. This might indicate that our artist was trained in, or at least very familiar with, the early Tabriz painting style in the royal ateliers under Shah Tahmasp.

The scribe of the manuscript was well-known, with sixteen manuscripts known to be written in his hand, indicating that he was one of the main calligraphers of the school, including a manuscript of Nizami's Khamsa in the Freer Gallery, (inv.no.F1908.264, for a full listing see Grube, op.cit., p.152).