A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM Iran, dated 1310...
A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM
Iran, dated 1310 AH (1892 AD)
Persian text on lined paper, comprising a line written in bold black nasta'liq script on a marbled ground, set within a cloud-shaped band against a gilded ground and enclosed within a double border, one plain and the other decorated with polychrome flowers on a light blue ground, framed by a broader light brown border, signed 'Mishkin Qalam' and dated '1310 AH'; the text reads: 'Gar gholam-e Baha nist, khak bar sar-e u - if he is not a servant of Bahá, shame upon him'
31cm x 19cm
Mishkin Qalam (1826–1912), born Mirza Husayn Isfahani in Iran, was a celebrated Persian calligrapher and scribe whose talent attracted the attention of the Qajar ruler Nasir Al-Din Shah, who bestowed upon him the name 'Mishkin Qalam' ('Black' or 'Musk-scented Pen'). While serving at the Qajar court in Tabriz, he embraced the Bahá’í Faith and later travelled to Adrianople, where he became a scribe to Bahá’u’lláh. Following Bahá’u’lláh’s exile to Acre in 1868, Mishkin Qalam was sent to Cyprus before eventually joining the Bahá’í community in Acre. He spent his later years in India and Acre producing transcriptions of Bahá’í writings and becoming particularly renowned for his elaborate tughra compositions and figural calligraphies incorporating Bahá’í texts.
Literature:
Rafati, V., and Schimmel, A., Mishkín Qalam: XIX Century Artist & Calligrapher, Society for Persian Letters & Arts, Landegg Academy, Darmstadt, Reyhani, 1992.
Oeming-Badiee, J., and Badiee, H., The Calligraphy of Mishkín-Qalam, Journal of Bahá’í Studies, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 1–22, 1990-91.
Stermotich Cappellari, F., The Calligraphic Art of Mishkin Qalam, in Yuka Kadoi (ed.), Persian Art: Image-Making in Eurasia, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 133–156, 2018.
For a closely related example, see the two calligraphies sold in these rooms on 22 April 2026, lot 122.
A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM
Iran, dated 1310 AH (1892 AD)
Persian text on lined paper, comprising a line written in bold black nasta'liq script on a marbled ground, set within a cloud-shaped band against a gilded ground and enclosed within a double border, one plain and the other decorated with polychrome flowers on a light blue ground, framed by a broader light brown border, signed 'Mishkin Qalam' and dated '1310 AH'; the text reads: 'Gar gholam-e Baha nist, khak bar sar-e u - if he is not a servant of Bahá, shame upon him'
31cm x 19cm
Mishkin Qalam (1826–1912), born Mirza Husayn Isfahani in Iran, was a celebrated Persian calligrapher and scribe whose talent attracted the attention of the Qajar ruler Nasir Al-Din Shah, who bestowed upon him the name 'Mishkin Qalam' ('Black' or 'Musk-scented Pen'). While serving at the Qajar court in Tabriz, he embraced the Bahá’í Faith and later travelled to Adrianople, where he became a scribe to Bahá’u’lláh. Following Bahá’u’lláh’s exile to Acre in 1868, Mishkin Qalam was sent to Cyprus before eventually joining the Bahá’í community in Acre. He spent his later years in India and Acre producing transcriptions of Bahá’í writings and becoming particularly renowned for his elaborate tughra compositions and figural calligraphies incorporating Bahá’í texts.
Literature:
Rafati, V., and Schimmel, A., Mishkín Qalam: XIX Century Artist & Calligrapher, Society for Persian Letters & Arts, Landegg Academy, Darmstadt, Reyhani, 1992.
Oeming-Badiee, J., and Badiee, H., The Calligraphy of Mishkín-Qalam, Journal of Bahá’í Studies, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 1–22, 1990-91.
Stermotich Cappellari, F., The Calligraphic Art of Mishkin Qalam, in Yuka Kadoi (ed.), Persian Art: Image-Making in Eurasia, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 133–156, 2018.
For a closely related example, see the two calligraphies sold in these rooms on 22 April 2026, lot 122.
