Shahnama Project : Shahnama

Firdausi

Shahnama Project

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>Provenance: Ex Collection of the Imperial Russian Geographic Society (Caucasian Department), registered in the Imperial Public Library (NLR) in 1859. Gift of Karapet Sarafov (1859). According to the colophon on f. 544v the copy was finished in 1253/1837-8 by Ahmad b. Isma'il Shirazi for Mirza Ahmad-khan b. 'Abbas Quli Bik Turkman Tabrizi.</p><p>Binding is of lacquered papier mache. Th exterior sides of the covers are decorated with two paintings, executed by one hand with a wide black frame with herbal ornament, where the baits ilustrating the scene are written in gold. Front cover: Rustam kills Isfandiyar; back cover: Rustam kills Ashkabus. The back painting is signed: Hasb-i farmayish-i Mirza Ahmad-khan ibn Abbas Quli-bik Turkman-i Tabrizi. Raqam-i Muhammad Hasan Shirazi, 1203.</p><p>Paper - Oriental, creamy, very glossy; in good condition.</p><p>The text is in a professional neat nasta‘liq in Indian ink, headings in red over a thick layer of very shiny gold surrounded by floral ornament in polychrome.</p><p>ff. 1v-11r - prose introduction, incipit. Iftitah-i sukhan an...; ff. 7v-8v - satire on Mahmud contains 124 baits</p><p>ff. 11v-12r - empty space.</p><p>f. 12v - normative incipit of the poem.</p><p>Explicit: hazaran durud-u hazaran salam / zi ma bar Muhammad alayhu-s-salam</p><p>The text is in the frames of very shiny gold, red, blue and grey lines. Illuminations on ff.1v-2r - sarlauh of a very refined hand in blue, red, pink, green, orange and gold with extremely small and neat details; ff. 12v-13r sarlauh of incredibly luxurious work. Beside the marginal decoration, the text is surrounded by the golden clouds, which if looked at closer represent a very tiny floral ornament in polychrome over gold.</p><p>There are 65 miniatures, evidently produced by 3 painters. (FA)</p></p>