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Portrait of Shah Tiahmasp
(Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World , Islamic Manuscripts, India, Nepal, and Tibet)
This portrait from Walters W.688 is inscribed Shah Tahmasp (died 984 AH/CE 1577), who ruled Safavid Persia from 930 AH/ CE 1524-983 AH/CE 1526. The Safavid painter Shaykh "Abbasi, active between 1060 AH/CE 1650 to 1095 AH/CE 1683-1684, executed a number of portraits similar to this one, and he often signed his name in a rectangular panel, as seen in the left foreground of this painting. Someone has erased the artist's signature on the right side of the composition.
The leaf is from an album (muraqqaʿ) of Persian and Indian calligraphy and paintings, most probably compiled in the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE. The album contains thirty-four illustrations, three of which are attributed to the Mughal painter Abū al-Ḥasan (Nādir al-al-Zamān), two to Manūhar, and one each to Dawlat and Ṣādiqī. There are several portraits of rulers and courtiers, as well as scenes from historical manuscripts, such as Bāburnāmah and Gulistān by Saʿdī. This album is also significant for the number of works by the artist Shayk Abbāsī, who worked in the eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE. The signed calligraphic pieces bear the names of ʿImād al-Ḥasanī (d. 1024 AH / 1615 CE), ʿAlī Riz̤ā-ʾi ʿAbbāsī, Mīr ʿAlī, and ʿAbd al-Rashīd al-Daylamī (d. 1081 AH / 1670-1 CE). The album was initially in an accordion format and was later made into a codex. The lacquer binding with central ovals and pendants decorated with flowers dates to the thirteenth century AH / nineteenth CE.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
'Abduh Khudadad, 1189 AH/AD 1775 [mode of acquisition unknown] [seal impression: 'Abduh Khudadad, 1189 AH/AD 1775 on fol. 58a]; Farhad, 1234 AH/AD 1800 [mode of acquisition unknown] [seal impression: Farhad, 1234 AH/AD 1800 on a number of folios];
Muhammad al-Hasani [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [seal impression: Muhammad al-Hasani on fol. 28a]; Fath 'Ali [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [seal impression: Fath 'Ali on fol. 82b]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Iran
(Place of Origin)
India (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 11 5/8 x W: 7 1/2 in. (29.5 x 19 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
W.668.4B
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Parent Object
