Khusraw and Shirin
Manuscript
17th century (written)
17th century (written)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Codex, ink, gold and colours on paper, 250 folios, 14 lines per page. Persian poetry in nasta`liq script, 18 paintings signed Reza `Abbasi (d. 1635), text copied by `Abd al-Jabbar, filigree binding signed Muhammad Muhsin Tabrizi, Isfahan, Iran, one painting dated 1632, colophon statement dated Jumada I 1091H, May 1680.
Another illustrated folio, also signed by Reza and dated 1632 (V&A, MSL/1964/1613) was detached from this codex and purchased much later by the museum. It is now mounted separately, it shows Khusraw and the lion and received an additional illuminated border by Mirza Razi Taleqani, Tehran, Iran, c.1884.
Binding of red leather over pasteboards; exterior covers gold block-stamped and printed; interior covers of leather filigree and incised leather work.
Another illustrated folio, also signed by Reza and dated 1632 (V&A, MSL/1964/1613) was detached from this codex and purchased much later by the museum. It is now mounted separately, it shows Khusraw and the lion and received an additional illuminated border by Mirza Razi Taleqani, Tehran, Iran, c.1884.
Binding of red leather over pasteboards; exterior covers gold block-stamped and printed; interior covers of leather filigree and incised leather work.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Khusraw and Shirin |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Manuscript, Khusraw and Shirin (Kitab-i Khusraw wa Shirin), by Nizami Ganjavi, Isfahan (Iran), 17th century. |
| Physical description | Codex, ink, gold and colours on paper, 250 folios, 14 lines per page. Persian poetry in nasta`liq script, 18 paintings signed Reza `Abbasi (d. 1635), text copied by `Abd al-Jabbar, filigree binding signed Muhammad Muhsin Tabrizi, Isfahan, Iran, one painting dated 1632, colophon statement dated Jumada I 1091H, May 1680. Another illustrated folio, also signed by Reza and dated 1632 (V&A, MSL/1964/1613) was detached from this codex and purchased much later by the museum. It is now mounted separately, it shows Khusraw and the lion and received an additional illuminated border by Mirza Razi Taleqani, Tehran, Iran, c.1884. Binding of red leather over pasteboards; exterior covers gold block-stamped and printed; interior covers of leather filigree and incised leather work. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Object history | Accessioned by the South Kensington Museum in 1885. The leaf containing the scene of Khusraw fighting the lion was removed immediately before the manuscript of Khusraw and Shirin was sold to the V&A in 1885. The owner at the time was Sidney Churchill, the British consul in Tehran, and he had the folio mounted on a board and set within an illuminated frame by a local artist. The painting was brought to the V&A for an opinion in 1962 and was recognised by one of the curators, B.W. Robinson, as that missing from the V&A’s own manuscript. This leaf is now MSL/1964/1613 and also part of the National Art Library Collection. |
| Associated object | L.1613-1964 (Ensemble) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Library number | MSL/1885/364 |
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| Record created | May 4, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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