Page from the Diwan (Collected Works) of Sultan Husayn Mirzacirca 1490

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Illuminated manuscript page with Nasta'liq script in white on teal ground, gold-flecked marbled border, and ornate geometric header in blue and gold

Illuminated manuscript page with deep blue ground sprinkled with gold flecks. Central text panel contains lines of Nastaliq script in gold ink, interrupted by a horizontal decorative band with interlaced floral arabesque in red, green, and gold on a white ground. Ruled borders in gold and red frame the text block.

Title: Page from the Diwan (Collected Works) of Sultan Husayn Mirza
Place Made: Afghanistan, Herat
Date Made: circa 1490
Period: Timurid (1370-1506)
Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, with découpage and gold-flecked border
Dimensions: 9 × 5 3/4 in. (22.86 × 14.61 cm)
Credit Line: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number: M.73.5.599a-b
Classification: Manuscripts
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: In Muslim cultures, words are used not only to communicate but to decorate. Because it is through writing that the Qur’an is transmitted, scripts in the Arabic alphabet were devised and perfected to be worthy of divine revelation. On this account, calligraphy became the most important art form regardless of the text. This concern with beautiful writing extended beyond the use of pen and ink and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples whose languages are written in Arabic script, such as Chaghatay Turkish, as here.

This exquisite calligraphy, rendered in the nasta‘liq script, was not written with a pen but was cut from sheets of colored paper and meticulously pasted onto the page, which has gold-flecked borders. This remarkable type of calligraphic paper cutout, or découpage, is known as qit‘a. It is one of several such pages in the collection (see M.73.5.599c-d, M.73.5.599e-f, and M.73.56), which are from a partially dispersed manuscript of the collected poetry of the last great ruler of the Timurid dynasty (1370−1507), Sultan-Husayn Bayqara (r. 1469−1506). His court at Herat was the preeminent Persian cultural center of its day. In this instance, however, Sultan-Husayn chose to compose his poetry in his Turkic mother tongue.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya, ed. Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973.
Lentz, Thomas W., and Glenn D. Lowry. Timur and the Princely Vision. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989.
Komaroff, Linda. Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005.
Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
Blair, Shelia S. Islamic Calligraphy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.
Pal, Pratapaditya, Thomas W. Lentz, Sheila R. Canby, Edwin Binney, 3rd, Walter B. Denny, and Stephen Markel. "Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 17, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 73-130.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Bloom, Jonathan and Sheila Blair, eds. And Diverse Are Their Hues: Color in Islamic Art and Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.

Page from the Diwan (Collected Works) of Sultan Husayn Mirzacirca 1490

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Title: Page from the Diwan (Collected Works) of Sultan Husayn Mirza
Place Made: Afghanistan, Herat
Date Made: circa 1490
Period: Timurid (1370-1506)
Medium: Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, with découpage and gold-flecked border
Dimensions: 9 × 5 3/4 in. (22.86 × 14.61 cm)
Credit Line: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection, gift of Joan Palevsky
Accession Number: M.73.5.599a-b
Classification: Manuscripts
Collecting Area: Art of the Middle East: Islamic
Curatorial Notes: In Muslim cultures, words are used not only to communicate but to decorate. Because it is through writing that the Qur’an is transmitted, scripts in the Arabic alphabet were devised and perfected to be worthy of divine revelation. On this account, calligraphy became the most important art form regardless of the text. This concern with beautiful writing extended beyond the use of pen and ink and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples whose languages are written in Arabic script, such as Chaghatay Turkish, as here.

This exquisite calligraphy, rendered in the nasta‘liq script, was not written with a pen but was cut from sheets of colored paper and meticulously pasted onto the page, which has gold-flecked borders. This remarkable type of calligraphic paper cutout, or découpage, is known as qit‘a. It is one of several such pages in the collection (see M.73.5.599c-d, M.73.5.599e-f, and M.73.56), which are from a partially dispersed manuscript of the collected poetry of the last great ruler of the Timurid dynasty (1370−1507), Sultan-Husayn Bayqara (r. 1469−1506). His court at Herat was the preeminent Persian cultural center of its day. In this instance, however, Sultan-Husayn chose to compose his poetry in his Turkic mother tongue.
Selected Bibliography: Pal, Pratapaditya, ed. Islamic Art: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 1973.
Lentz, Thomas W., and Glenn D. Lowry. Timur and the Princely Vision. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989.
Komaroff, Linda. Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Museum Associates, 2005.
Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.
Blair, Shelia S. Islamic Calligraphy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.
Pal, Pratapaditya, Thomas W. Lentz, Sheila R. Canby, Edwin Binney, 3rd, Walter B. Denny, and Stephen Markel. "Arts from Islamic Cultures: Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 17, no. 6 (November/December 1987): 73-130.
Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.
Bloom, Jonathan and Sheila Blair, eds. And Diverse Are Their Hues: Color in Islamic Art and Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.