An illustrated and illuminated leaf from a manuscript of Firdausi's Shahnameh (The Second Small Shahnameh): Gushtasp slaying the Dragon of Mount Saqila, Persia or Baghdad, Ilkhanid, circa 1300 AD

gouache heightened with gold and silver on paper, 22 lines to the page, above and below the painting, written in small naskh script in black ink in 6 columns, red intercolumnar rules, text within red, gold and black rules, the reverse with 30 lines of text similarly arranged

Painting: 4.2 by 12.3cm; text panel: 16.5 by 13cm; leaf: 25.8 by 19.2cm.

Condition Report:
Overall fair condition, the text panel laid down on a later folio with handling marks along the edges and a few darker spots of discolouration, text panel with overall light staining to paper and some darker areas of water staining, faint creases, ink with minor smudging but the text is legible, blue ink outline to text panel added later, small area of repair to paper at lower left edge, the image with minor loss to pigments, tarnish to silver pigment, the reverse with later inscriptions in pencil in the lower margin, as viewed.

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