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Artworks
Double-sided Folio from a Diwan of Hafiz, known as the ‘Bute Hafiz’, From the Mughal Imperial Library, Text written by Sultan-‘Ali Mashhadi, Iran, late 15th century
Gold and ink on paper
Folio numbered 89 in red at the bottom of the intercolumnar space between the two columns
Folio: 24.6 x 17.2 cmFurther images
This exquisite double-sided folio comes from a celebrated copy of the Diwan (Collected Poems) of Hafiz (d. 1389), whose renown is due to its distinguished modern former owner, the Marquess...This exquisite double-sided folio comes from a celebrated copy of the Diwan (Collected Poems) of Hafiz (d. 1389), whose renown is due to its distinguished modern former owner, the Marquess of Bute, the writing by the illustrious Persian calligrapher Sultan-‘Ali Mashhadi (1442-c.1520), the informative autographs of Emperors Jahangir and Shahjahan, their elevated valuation of the manuscript at 1,500 rupees, and above all the pivotal place the manuscript occupies in the development of Mughal border decoration. Acquired by the British Library in 1983, the manuscript is nearly intact, with 117 of the original 125 folios still in the book.[i] With the re-emergence of this folio, which was previously sold at auction in 1976, only three of the eight detached folios remain unaccounted for.[ii]
[i] British Library Or. 14139, published in detail in J.P. Losty, ‘The “Bute Hafiz” and the Development of Border Decoration in the Manuscript Studio of the Mughals’, Burlington Magazine 127, no. 993 (December 1985): 855-871.
[ii] Other detached folios are in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (43.1), published in L. Leach, Mughal and Other Indian Paintings in the Chester Beatty Library 2 vols. (London, 1995), no. 2.177; the Keir Collection, published by R. Skelton in B.W. Robinson et al., Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book (London,1976), no. V.47; the Fitzwilliam Museum; and the former Ehrenfeld collection, published in D. Ehnbom, Indian Miniatures: The Ehrenfeld Collection (New York, 1985), no. 19.
Full description by John Seyller available by request
