My Notes on Persian Miniatures Years ago I started translating La Miniature En Orient to English. Not for any great reason in fact I was translating the French translation of a German book. I thought it would be fun to work a little on my French while looking at Persian Miniatures. I also could not find the book in English or German and I wanted to read it. Notes on Islamic Art

Hamzanama The Master Spy Escapes Circa 1570

Drop Down Flowers in 16th Century Persian Art

The Plates of La Miniature En Orient

Plate 42: The Sleep of Rustam Plate 46: Bears Portrait of a Seated Flautist. Boars in a Fifteenth Century Miniature Plate 57: Portrait of a Young Woman Seated Princess Plate 61: Shah Tahmasp? Plate 62: Portrait of the Prince Two Safavid Princes or A self-portrait? Plate 63: Portrait of a Prince Plate 64: The Officer's Portrait The Turkmen Prisoner- 1590 - 1600 Signed by Farrukh Beg. Plate 67: The Lovers Plate 68: Khusrau discovers Chirin

Seated Princess Attributed to Mohammadi, Herat, circa 1565

Detail "Two Safavid Princes".

Plate 70: Ustad Abdollah A City Dweller Desecrates a Garden A Comparison of Figural Representation Pruning Scars as a Tool in Attribution Painter D as Abdol-Aziz? Hats and Stringed Instruments On Tying a Turban Abdullah at the court in Persian Miniature Painting: Kabul? Decorative Gold Bands in the Haft Awrang of Jami Mashrabiyya Plate 70bPainting attributed to Shaykhzadeh Mahmud Bukhara, third quarter sixteenth century. Taj of the Kizilbash by Shaykzadeh Mahmud Khosrow Enthroned by Shaykzadeh Mahmud Courtiers in a Garden Palace by Shaykhzadeh Prince Drinking Wine. Tabriz Circa 1520 by Shaykhzadeh. (?) Plate 72 Animals in Combat (Khorasan c1595) Plate 73: Hunting Scene (Shiraz Circa 1575) Plate 77 Shaykh Muhammad The Poem

Christie's 10th Century Samarkand Simurgh Bowl

Guide to Islamic Art of the Ceramic Tile, Bowls, and Plates

Saray Berke Strapwork Bowl 14th Century

Jahangir's wild ass (gur-khar) circa 1620 Saray Berke Strapwork Bowl 14th Century Yuan Dynasty White Porcelain Vase Mughal Red Ground Grotesque fragments Flowers Underfoot: Metropolitan’s Mughal Exhibition Tang Dynasty Central Asian Turk Statues Mughal Millefleurs Carpet Fragment 18th century Mughal Hanging late late 17th/early 18th century Hamzanama The Master Spy Escapes Circa 1570 Bukhara A Pair of Two Lovers, Bukhara Circa 1530-1550

Mu'in Musavvir's Youth Playing a Flute

Persia Portrait of a Kneeling Youth, Isfahan Persia Early 17th Century Dragon, Ibex, and Lion with a Man, Isfahan Persia Early 17th Century Mu'in Musavvir's Youth Playing a Flute dated 1676 Mu'in Musavvir Fountain of Life, Isfahan Persia Circa 1648-9 Shah Abbas and Mughal ambassador Khan Alam in 1618, Persia, Isfahan Leaf of Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp by Aqa Mirak Painted from 1635 to 1697 Farhad, Massumeh. "An Artist's Impression: Mu'in Musawir's Tiger Attacking a Youth." Muqarnas 9 (1992): 116-23. A Portrait of an Amorus Couple by Muhammad Sadiq, Zand Persia Dated A.H. 1202/A.D. 1787 Napolean Bonaparte Zand or Qajar by Mirza Reza Ibn Mohammad Ali Ashtiani 1792 or 1802 Sotheby's Fath Ali Shah signed by Ahmad, Persia, dated A.H.1226/A.D.1811 Sotheby's Nadir Shah Afshar, signed by Mirza Jani. A.D.1779

Mamluk

Guide to Mamluk Art

• A Rare Syria or Mamluk Egypt ivory inlaid micro mosaic decorated games board

• The Tipu Sultan Sword with fifteenth-century Mamluk or Ottoman Damascus watered steel blade

• Mamluk Egypt or Ayyubid Syria Purple Marvered Glass 12th-13th C. LOT 118

• A 16th century Mamluk carpet, lot 220

• The David Sylvester Cairene fragments,

Miscellaneous Footnote Entries:

• Christie's 14th C Fars CandlestickChristie's Manijeh and Bijan, Shahnameh Shiraz, circa 1520-30
• Pastoral Scene Shiraz circa 1550 - 1560Sotheby's Rustam killing the White Div, Shiraz, c.1560
• Fete Champetre   Shiraz circa 1575 Shiraz Edge Tiles
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• A youth talking  with a man. Shiraz Circa 1560
• Iskandar and Nushabeh. Shiraz Circa 1560
• Solomon Enthroned, Shiraz, circa 1580 -1590
• Rustem meeting Kay Qubad Shiraz, 1560-70
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• "Coronation of Soltan Hosayn Mirza Bayqara" Attributed to Mansur, Herat circa 1469
• "The Traveler and the Dervish" possibly by Hajji Muhammad, Herat 1486.
• Execution Before a King by Bihzad Herat circa 1510
• Encampment with Camels   Herat circa 1600
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• Bahram Conquers The Monster Tabriz Early 15th
• Sotheby's 15th century Turkman Wolves
• "Big Head" Fariburz and Kay Khusrau Turkmen Court Style, dated 1494 for Sultan Ali Mirza of Gazan (reigned 1478 - 1504)
• Prince Drinking Wine. Tabriz Circa 1520
• Youth and Old Age  Tabriz circa 1530
• The Jewel-tree attributed to the artist Dust Muhammad Tabriz circa 1530 from the Welch/Dickson Shah-Nameh
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• Classical Persian Instruments
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• Dragon & Horseman - Sadiqi Beg (?) in the late 16th or early 17th century
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• Cover of a late 16th Century Qazvin Manuscript
• Iskandar lassos the Blue Div Qazvin dated 1593
• Sotheby's Portrait of a reclining youth in a landscape, Isfahan (?) 1600
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• Mughal
  • Sotheby's Hamzanama Khaja Umar the master spy and friend of Amir Hamza
  • The Master Spy Escapes from the Hamzanama c. 1562 - 1577
  • Akhbar i-Barmakyan Gifts at the Gate, India, Mughal, Circa 1595-1600
  • Mughal Portrait of a courtier Early 17th
  • The Demotte Mughal Standing Youth, dated 1608
  • Nariman Kills the Son of the Khaqan of Chin, attributed to Govardhan C.1610
  • Mughal Elephants In Battle c.1595-1600
  • Mughal or Deccan Portrait of Shah Jahan late 17th century
  • Portrait of Amr Singh attributed by Jahangir to Bishin Das Dated 1624 AD
  • A Mughal Princess With Handmaiden Late 17th
  • Sotheby's Two sandstone balustrade panels Northern India, 18th/19th century
  • Mughal Elephants In Battle c.1595-1600
  • Mughal Fighting Elephant Fragment

• Deer and Bird Lacquer Book Covers Persia, Safavid, late 16th century

Bukhara

• Jami's Baharestan , Bukhara, dated 1604 AD
• Islamic Miniature Art: Nasta`liq and youths holding wine cups and bottles, Bukhara, second half of 16th c. Sotheby's
• Ordinary Rugs of the 15th and 16th century
• Mashhad
  • "Majnum Comes Before Layla Disguised As A Sheep" from the Haft Awrang of Jami made for Soltan Ibrahim Mirza, 1556 to 1565
  • "Yusuf Preaches to Zulaykha's Maidens in her Garden " from the Haft Awrang of Jami made for Soltan Ibrahim Mirza, 1556 to 1565
  • "Yusuf Gives a Royal Banquet in Honor of His Marriage" from the Haft Awrang of Jami made for Soltan Ibrahim Mirza, 1556 to 1565
  • The Interstitial Anomaly
  • "A Father Advises His Son About Love" from the Haft Awrang of Jami made for Soltan Ibrahim Mirza, 1556 to 1565
  • "The Simple Peasant Entreats the Salesman Not to Sell His Wonderful Mule" from the Haft Awrang of Jami made for Soltan Ibrahim Mirza, 1556 to 1565
  • Interlocking Arrow Tile
• Mir Sayyid Ali
  • The Berlin Spiral Tendril Carpet

Sorting out Kabul and Khorasan in the third Quarter 16th Century

• Duust Muhammed
  • Haftvad and the Worm by Duust Muhammad
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• Shaykh Mahammad
  • A Father Advises His Son About Love
  • The Wonderful Mule. c. 1540
  • Yusuf Preaches to Zulaykha's Maidens.
• Ali Ashgar
  • Yusuf Gives a Royal Banquet. c. 1560
• Interlocking Arrow Tile
• The Interstitial Anomaly

Odds and ends

Christie's Early Islamic Silver Jug Probably Sogdian circa 8th-10th century

Timurid or earlier jade cup Sotheby's

The Emperor Qianlong's Hindustan (Mughal) Jade Drinking Vessel

Sotheby's A Safavid copper basin dt. 1662-3

Sotheby's A Safavid tinned-copper basin dt. 1603-04

Animal dish, Transoxiana, Circa 10th Century

Reza 'Abbasi Figure with Animals in Margin

A Vision Of Angels

Abdullah at the court in Kabul?

Guide The Sleep of Rustam, La Miniature En Orient by Ernst Kuhnel 1925 Persian Oriental Rugs and Carpets by Barry O'Connell,Spongobongo.com

Keir Collection "Hawking Party"

The Turkmen Prisoner Farrukh Beg 1590 - 1600

La Miniature En Orient Plate 64: The Officer's Portrait

Shiraz Hunting Scene, Circa 1580

The Bahari Lacquer Bookcover Shiraz circa 1575

Tabriz Bookcover circa 1540

Cover of a late 16th Century Qazvin Manuscript

Small Silk Kashan (?)

Mughal Elephants In Battle c.1595-1600

Islamic Art: Mughal Portrait of a courtier Early 17th

Islamic Miniature Art: Hamzanama Khaja Umar the master spy and friend of Amir Hamza

Persian Miniature Art: 15th century Turkmen Wolves Sotheby's

Islamic Art: 2 Dome of the Rock Tiles Circa 1550 lot 47

• A Dome of the Rock Iraqi Cover

Southwest Asia Time Line

In 1922 Ernst Kuhnel wrote a book called "Miniaturmalerei im Islamischen Orient" published in Berlin by Cassirer. In about 1925 the book was translated into French by Paul Budry and called "La Miniature En Orient". In 1998 I was reading the French edition and a thought occurred to me. Why not take the pictures and commentary and publish them on RugNotes, I thought. This would serve two purposes, it would force me to polish, refine and articulate my thoughts on Islamic Miniatures and it would also offer an ideal opportunity to polish up my French. This is a learning experience for me and doubtlessly I will make mistakes before this is all finished but hopefully I can learn from them.

Just repeating an old book even one by a great scholar like Kuhnel seems to be of limited value so I decided to annotate my thoughts comments and discussion as Translators Notes. Every thing above the Translators notes is from Kuhnel and from where it says "Translators Notes" on is from me. I am trying to use a combination of text and pictures to comment on Kuhnel's attributions and then to show where various other writers have agreed or disagreed and how I agree or disagree.

I am treating each of the 154 plates as a chapter and am posting them in no particular order. When I finish one then I look for the next. It may be an odd way to approach such a project but I am having fun. Additionally as I see the need I will include related pieces if I think they add to the discussion.

For Further Reading:

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Tabriz Rugs

Kashmar Rugs

Isfahan Rugs

Hamadan Rugs

Mashad Rugs

Gabbeh Rugs

Heriz Rugs

Ardabil Rugs

Lylyan Rugs

Turkmen Rugs

Persian Rugs

Turkish Rugs

Suzani

Oriental Rugs

Persian Carpets

Baluch Rugs,

The Qashqai and Qashqai Rugs

Veramin Rugs

Tribal Rugs

Khotan-Rugs

Khotan-Carpets

Kirman-Rugs

Kirman-Carpets

Antique-Rugs

Antique-Carpets

Shahsevan-Rugs

Oushak-Rugs

Mashad-Rugs

Gabbeh-Rugs

Kurdish-Rugs

Becoming Missional

Index to my Rug Notes

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z