"A City Dweller
Desecrates a Garden"1.
From The Haft Awrang of Jami, Khorasan
circa 1565.
I have been studying a possible
attribution of this this miniature to Abdollah-e Mozahheb.
Previously it has been attributed to an unnamed artist
who Stuart Cary
Welch labeled "Painter D".2. I certainly
stop short of attributing all the Painter D works to Abdollah-e Mozahheb
but I fail to see the unity of origin for the group that
Welch saw. This work is typical of the work of Abdollah-e Mozahheb,
In some areas such
as the roof of the pavilion Abdollah-e Mozahheb exhibits
great talent but over all his work is very similar to the
lesser work of a greater artist such as Mirza Ali.
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| Detail from
"A City Dweller Desecrates a Garden" Please
observe the similarities in the side panels as
well and in the carpet in the pavilion. I suggest
that in the steps both pieces share not only a
similarity in style but also share the same
mistake in Perspective.
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Detail -
"Court Scene in a Garden"3. This is
from a miniature that is signed by Abdollah-e
Mozahheb and dated 1581. Court Scene in a
Garden' was apparently the frontispiece of a
major work so it is rather elaborate. So I am not
suggesting that the comparisons will be exact but
rather that they show indications of being of the
same hand.
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Detail from "A City Dweller
Desecrates a Garden" Please note the
similarities in the patterns of the roof, the
angle of the roof, the number (3) of palmettes,
the number of elements on the lower edge of the
roof (25), the number of cloud bands in the main
field (6).
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Detail - "Court Scene in a
Garden" |
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| Detail from
"A City Dweller Desecrates a Garden" Please
Note the similar small lower branch of the
cypress trees.
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Detail -
"Court Scene in a Garden" |
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| Detail from "A City Dweller
Desecrates a Garden" |
Detail - "Court Scene in a
Garden" One rather distinctive clue is the
poorly drawn bird. Please note not only the
similarities in the birds but that an artist who
can draw such magnificent pavilions draws such
clumsy birds.
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| Detail from "A City Dweller
Desecrates a Garden" Please not the fairly
unusual stringed instrument in the two pictures.
The small size of the sound box is distinctive.
In 16th century Persian art we generally expect
the box to be larger.
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Detail - "Ustad Abdollah"4. Ustad
Abdollah is a signed miniature by Abdollah-e
Mozahheb
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I continue this discussion in:
1. Welch,
Stuart Cary. Persian Painting Five Royal Manuscripts of
the Sixteenth Century. New York: George Braziller.
1976. Plate 43, folio 179 verso.
2. Welch,
Stuart Cary. Persian Painting Five Royal Manuscripts of
the Sixteenth Century. New York: George Braziller.
1976. Page 116.
3. Soudavar,
Abolala. Art of the Persian Court. New York: Rizzoli,
1992, plate 90a.
4. Soudavar,
Abolala. Art of the Persian Court. New York: Rizzoli,
1992, page 229.
5. Kuhnel,
Ernst. La Miniature En Orient, Paris: Les Editions G.
Cres & Cie, 1925. Plate 70a.
For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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