A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM Iran, dated 1321...
A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM
Iran, dated 1321 AH (1903 AD)
Persian text on lined paper, comprising four lines written in black nasta'liq script, together with the common invocation of the Bahá’í faith and a colophon arranged within two triangular cartouches in two diagonal corners, signed 'Mishkin Qalam' and dated '1321 AH'; the text is set against a red border and arranged in cloud-shaped cartouches against a gilded ground and reads: 'Mehr-e falak-e sa'dat o eqbali, Ba qadr-e to in martabe nabvad 'ali, Javid be molk-e jah bashi vali, Bazmat ze puri ze hal mabada khali - You are the sun in the cosmos of prosperity and fortune, Yet, compared to your supreme dignity, even this high station is not sublime, May you rule eternally over the kingdom of grandeur and status, And may your banquet never be empty of abundance and ecstatic joy.
32.5cm x 20cm
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.
For further references on the subject see:
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 close related example, see the two calligraphies sold in these rooms on 22 April 2026, lot 122.
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Time, Location
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A BAHA'I CALLIGRAPHY PANEL SIGNED MISHKIN QALAM
Iran, dated 1321 AH (1903 AD)
Persian text on lined paper, comprising four lines written in black nasta'liq script, together with the common invocation of the Bahá’í faith and a colophon arranged within two triangular cartouches in two diagonal corners, signed 'Mishkin Qalam' and dated '1321 AH'; the text is set against a red border and arranged in cloud-shaped cartouches against a gilded ground and reads: 'Mehr-e falak-e sa'dat o eqbali, Ba qadr-e to in martabe nabvad 'ali, Javid be molk-e jah bashi vali, Bazmat ze puri ze hal mabada khali - You are the sun in the cosmos of prosperity and fortune, Yet, compared to your supreme dignity, even this high station is not sublime, May you rule eternally over the kingdom of grandeur and status, And may your banquet never be empty of abundance and ecstatic joy.
32.5cm x 20cm
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.
For further references on the subject see:
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 close related example, see the two calligraphies sold in these rooms on 22 April 2026, lot 122.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
