Lot 17
AN ILLUSTRATED FOLIO FROM THE SHAHNAMA: BAHRAM CHUBINA KILLS MUQATURA, CHAMPION OF THE KHAN OF CHIN ‡
PERSIA, SIGNED 'MU'IN MUSSAVIR', CIRCA 1660
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
gouache heightened with gold on paper, stuck down on card, at centre showing Bahram Chubina shooting an arrow at Muqatura with soldiers watching from above against a rocky landscape with blue skies, text in four columns above and below the painting written in elegant nasta’liq in black ink, signed in the lower margin, numbered ‘98’ with Persian numerals, ruled in red, gold and blue
Dimensions
folio 36cm x 22.2cm, image 25.5cm x 14cm
Provenance
Private collection, Spain.
Footnote
The text and the painting recount the duel between Bahram Chubina and Muqatura, champion of the Khan of Chin, and how Bahram finally mortally wounds Muqatura with an arrow shot through a gap in his mail. This story is found in the section of the Shahnameh which deals with the reign of Khosrow Parviz, during Bahram Chubina's period of exile after his revolt against the Shah.
Mu’in worked on at least six manuscripts of the Shahnama and was chosen by none other than Shah Abbas II (r. 1642-66) as director and lead painter on his own copy of the text, a signal honour for such an artist. Of the several Shahnameh manuscripts by Mu’in’s hand that Robert Eng has identified, the present folio seems to belong to the one he has labelled ‘E’, produced circa 1660, given the similarities it shares with other folios from this manuscript, such as the numerals in Persian at one side of the paintings and the hasty signature by Mu'in at the bottom centre. In addition, the Persian numeral in our folio (no. 98) fits nicely in the narrative story in manuscript E, since folio no. 100 depicts the death of Bahram Chubina, an event that occurs not very far in time after the episode depicted in our folio (Eng, R., "MOʿIN-E MOSAVVER." Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published May 19, 2016). Other paintings from this manuscript are in major collections worldwide. Twelve are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with the main text block (inv. no. 1974.290.43, see Ekhtiar, M. et al (eds.), Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 2011, pp. 228-29 no. 154), while others are in the Museum of Islamic Art Qatar (inv. no. MS.24.2007), the Aga Khan Museum (inv. nos. AKM79, AKM540), the San Diego Museum of Art (inv. no. 1971.67), and the Brooklyn Museum (inv. no. 34.6010) among other locations.