Album Page with Calligraphic Composition

Location: Iran

Materials: ink, gold and opaque watercolour on paper; mounted on card, within gold-sprinkled margins

Dimensions: 17.7 x 7.9cm (calligraphic panel)

Accession Number: CAL 175

Other Notes:

Shah-Mahmud Nishapuri is one of the most esteemed masters of nasta‘liq. He worked for Shah Tahmasp in Tabriz and finally retired to Mashhad, where he lived until his death in 1564–5. He worked on two of the best-known manuscripts of his time, the Khamsah made for Shah Tahmasp and part of the Haft Awrang which was made for Sultan Ibrahim Mirza, but is perhaps most famous for having copied a Qur’an in nasta‘liq.

Script:

written in nasta‘liq script

Bibliography:

N.F. Safwat, The Art of the Pen. Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume V, London 1996, cat.63, pp.130 and 132.