La Miniature En
Orient
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Shah Tahmasp?
Plate 61. Persia, circa 1530, Sultan Mohammed, Collection of H. Vever.
La Miniature En Orient by Ernst Kuhnel 1925
Detached miniature formerly in the collection of Bourgeois and Sambon. The figure reads a book whose open page contains poetic praise of the beauty of his face, comparing it with that of Joseph. As we do not possess a portrait of Tahmasp Shah, the identity of the character is not absolute. However it is not contested by the qualified literature. The piece is ascribed to but not signed by Sultan Mohammed. In the original painting the top and bottom border margins contains calligraphy.
Translator's Note:
This is a familiar picture that is well known as "A Reclining Prince" the cover picture and Plate 65 in "A Jewelers Eye" a wonderful book on the Vever collection which is now in the Freer gallery of the Smithsonian.
Attribution: Following Lowery and Neemazee Aqa Mirak Tabriz, Circa 1530
- Lowery, Glenn D. and Nemazee Susan. A Jeweler's Eye. Washington DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Smithsonian Institution, University of Washington Press, 1988. Cover, Page 194 -5, plate 65
N.B. My ongoing translation and commentary on "La Miniature En Orient" is a work in progress. I am publishing it one plate at a time in no particular order. I flip through the book and look for one that looks fun and then I do that one next. I suppose the order in which I publish them says something about my taste in art. My primary goal with this project is not to teach you about Islamic Art but rather it is to teach myself a little about Islamic Art. If I make an error please let me know. I am also doing the project this way so that if I make an error perhaps one of you will catch it for me. By the way I also decided that this would be a chance to learn a little more French, since I barely know enough to make it through a menu in a French Restaurant.
For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
