Top Binding Board from the Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusraw Dihlavi

Description This is the top board of the separated/detached binding of W.624. This binding from Walters manuscript W.624 is composed of lacquer with pictorial scenes. The upper cover depicts an encounter between a prince and a reclusive sage; the lower cover depicts a host of fairies pummeling some outnumbered divs. The doublures are decorated with a field of small floral pattern. The binding was restored probably in Europe in the 13th century AH/AD 19th.

Exhibitions

• Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. 2015-2016.

Provenance Muhammad Zaki, 1241 AH/AD 1825-1826 [mode of acquisition unknown] [oval seal, fols. 1a, 211a]; 'abd al-raji Muhammad Shafi', 1247 AH/AD 1831-1832 [mode of acquisition unknown] [rectangular seal fols. 1a, 211a]; Muhammad 'Ali [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [large oval seal with no date on fol. 211a]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters