AN ILLUSTRATED LOOSE BIFOLIO FROM A HAFT PAYKAR SERIES, THE KHAMSA BY NIZAMI GANJAVI (d. 1209): BAHRAM GUR IN THE BLUE PAVILION
PROPERTY FROM A CANADIAN COLLECTION
Timurid Herat, Afghanistan, second half 15th century

Persian manuscript on wove paper, with 21ll. of elegant black ink nasta'liq script to the page, the text divided into four parallel narrow columns, a standard format for Persian poetry, the bifolio now separated into two loose folios, the verso with a large illustration in opaque pigments and gold depicting the mythical Sassanian King Bahram Gur visiting the Princess of the Blue or Turquoise Pavilion, his regular Wednesday visit, the princess often referred to in literature as Piruza or Azarbin / Azargun from the Maghreb, the interiors portrayed in typical Timurid style with flat prospective and bold primary colours, behind the pair a large blue and white tiled panel decorating the top of the window, flanked by two arched gold niches, outside the text panel at the top the green dome of the pavilion, the text gathered in smaller clusters around the illustration; and the recto with a larger text panel, titles in gold set against scrolling floral meanders, both folios pasted onto an off-white cardboard mount with several annotations in pencil and pen, and a gallery sticker H.K. Monif 645 Madison Av. NY and the inventory number 1289, accompanied by the original frame's label with attribution, date and earlier ownership information.

The text panel 16cm x 9cm, the folio 23.3cm x 15cm, 37.5cm x 40.5cm including the mount

Provenance: previously in the collection of the Iranian Institute of New York, NY, directed by Dr. Arthur Upham Pope (d. 1969), ca. 1950s - 1960s.