Lot 14
AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A PERSIAN EPIC ATTRIBUTED TO MU'IN MUSAVVIR: TWO WARRIORS IN COMBAT
PERSIA, 17TH CENTURY
Estimate: £1,500 - £2,000
Auction: 11 December 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
gouache or acrylic on paper heightened with gold, laid down on card, depicting a warrior with a shield, bow and arrow, on a white horse, attacking his enemy on foot, soldiers looking on from behind the mountains
Dimensions
13.6cm x 16.6cm
Footnote
Mu'in Musavvir (c.1610s-1693) was one of the most significant and prolific painters of the Safavid period. Born in Isfahan were he spent most of his life, Musavvir studied under the great court painter Reza-I Abbasi who was considered the last great master of the Persian miniature. His reverence for his master is immortalised within a portrait which survives today in Princeton University Library. Musavvir’s long career (c.1635-1707) gave him the opportunity to produce a large body of work, and although much of it was concerned with traditional manuscript illustration, including several Shahnameh manuscripts, he also created refined single-page compositions. While his figural types relate closely to those of Reza-I-Abbassi, deviating only slightly in the treatment of eyes and mouths, his work resists western influences, remaining true to the traditional painting of the region. Musavvir is known as a master of illustration paintings, especially figural scenes and compositions depicting banquets and battles.
