An illuminated manuscript of poetry in nasta'liq, Persia or Central Asia, Khurasan or Bukhara, 16th century

Sotheby's, London, 27 April 1994, lot 81

Dr. Mark Zebrowski (1944-99), London

Private collection, London

This jewel-like manuscript displays the artistic possibilities of the découpage and stencil techniques in Safavid arts of the book. Découpage was introduced into the repertoire of Persian bookmaking in the 1400s, probably an extension to the emerging custom of découpé doublures and bookbindings, but it gained popularity in the 1500s. Découpage required great technical precision and a skillful artist to create lines that emulate the fluidity of the pen, as shown by the intricate scrolls and swooping arabesques of the present work. The boldly formed margins closely resemble a manuscript of Nizami with miniatures in the Bukhara style, sold in these rooms, 3 April 1978, lot 159.

Each leaf is decorated with polychrome margins of bold cloud-bands, arabesques and geometric tilework in various colour combinations. The compositions evoke textiles and ceramics; compare, for example, the arabesque strapwork of f.7a with the sixteenth century ‘Bernheimer’ Safavid vase carpet fragment sold in these rooms, 31 January 2014, lot 143, and the tilework pattern of f.11b with Kashan tile panels such as a panel in the MET (acc. no.41.165.22). The texture of the page is further enlivened throughout by gold sprinkling.

Roxburgh notes that margins were primarily used as a decorative space for the visual pleasure of the reader (Roxburgh 2005, p.172), and the artist here has pushed the margins to their full potential. Along with the alternating colours, the contrasts in scale between the powerfully drawn margins and the intricate nasta’liq, invoke a particularly dynamic experience of the text. For a further discussion on the technique of découpage, stencilling, and the practise of decorating margins in Persian manuscript tradition, see Roxburgh op.cit., pp.149-179.

Through the movement of artists, portable objects and trade in the sixteenth century, a decorative vocabulary was shared between the Safavids and the Ottomans. A comparable curved lattice margin to that of f.3a, f.6a and f.16b on the present work, is found a muraqqa’ compiled for Sultan Murad III, dated 1572-73 AD, in the Austrian National Library, Vienna (inv. no.Mixtus 313). The monumental interlacing split-palmettes can be compared with other related flamboyant stencilled marginal decoration in Ottoman manuscripts of the sixteenth century (see Safwat 2014, pp.480-3, no.120).