Two Qajar albums of calligraphic compositions, mostly written in shikasteh, Persia, mostly second half of the 19th Century

(2)

Persian (and some Arabic) manuscript on paper, laid down on card album pages, the first comprising eighteen compositions, all in shikasteh except one in naskhi and nasta'liq scripts; the second comprising seven compositions, most in shikasteh, marbled covers
302 x 215 mm.; 405 x 275 mm.(2)

Provenance
Christie's, Islamic Art and Manuscripts, 11th April 2000, lot 57 (part).
The estate of a distinguished Iranian academic, California, USA.

Many of the compositions in shikasteh in album A are copies (from an original dated AH 1001/AD 1592-93) by Muhammad Reza ibn Haji Biglar al-Qazwini, done in Lahijan and Tehran between Rajab 1282/mid-December 1865 and AH 1298/AD 1880-81, and one copied from the writing of Mirza Kuchak (a famous scribe of Fath 'Ali Shah period). There is also a practice sheet in naskhi script by 'Abd al-'Ali (unidentified), dated Jumadi I 1230/April-May 1815.

The scribe Muhammad Reza ibn Haji Biglar al-Qazwini is not recorded, but from the copies of his works in this album, he must have been a shikasteh scribe working in Lahijan (a town south of the Caspian Sea) and the capital Tehran during Nasir al-Din Shah's reign.

The compositions in album A are as follows:
1. A page from a Qajar Qur'an with interlinear Persian translations in red, 120 x 63 mm.
2. A practice sheet in naskhi, copied by 'Abd al-'Ali in Jumadi I 1230/April-May 1815, text within cloudbands on a gold ground, 148 x 100 mm.
3. In shikasteh, copied by Muhammad Reza ibn Haji Biglar al-Qazwini, in Lahijan in Jumadi II 1284/September 1867, within cloudbands on a gold ground, 175 x 125 mm.
4. In shikasteh, a copy of an original written in Isfahan (the name of the original scribe not clear) and later in Lahijan, presumably by Muhammad Reza al-Qazwini in Rabi' I 1283/July-August 1866, 173 x 118 mm.
5. In shikasteh, a copy of an original by Mirza Kuchak (undated) and later copied in Lahijan by Muhammad Reza al-Qazwini in Muharram 1284/May-June 1867, within marbled cloudbands on a gold ground, 195 x 138 mm.
6. In shikasteh, copied for a certain Mirza Ahmad ibn Aqa Ja'far Quli by Muhammad Reza al-Qazwini in Lahijan, in Muharram 1284/May-June 1867, in green cloudbands on a gold ground, 188 x 113 mm.
7. In shikasteh, from an original dated AH 1001/AD 1591-92 and copied by Muhammad Reza, in AH 1297/AD 1879-80, on a brown ground, 190 x 113 mm.
8. In shikasteh, a copy of an original dated AH 1001/AD 1592-93), done in the capital Tehran in AH 1297/AD 1879-80, probably by Muhammad Reza, though his name is not included, on a brown ground, 185 x 110 mm.
9. In shikasteh, a copy of an original by the deceased Muhammad Ja'far, copied in Isfahan and later copied by Muhammad Reza al-Qazwini, in Lahijan, in AH 1283/AD 1866-67. Neither scribe is recorded.
10. In shikasteh, from an original dated AH 1001/AD 1591-92 and copied, presumably by Muhammad Reza, in AH 1297/AD 1879-80, brown cloudbands, 197 x 113 mm.
11. In shikasteh, copied by Muhammad Reza in Tehran in Safar 1294/February-March 1877, written diagonally on a brown ground, 194 x 145 mm.
12. In shikasteh, copied by Muhammad Reza in Tehran in AH 1294/AD 1877-78, on a brown ground, 190 x 140 mm.
13. In shikasteh, a copy of an original dated AH 1001/AD 1592-93 and is dated AH 1297/AD 1879-80, no scribe's name, on a brown ground, 190 x 115 mm.
14. In shikasteh, copied by Muhammad Reza in AH 1298/AD 1880-81, on a green ground, 162 x 127 mm.
15. In shikasteh, originally written for a certain Mir Muhammad Isma'il in Isfahan in Sha'ban (the year is not given), and copied by Muhammad Reza in Tehran in Rajab [12]94/July-August 1877, on a brown ground, 150 x 115 mm.
16. In shikasteh, a copy of an original dated AH 1001/AD 1592-93, and is dated AH 1297/AD 1879-80, no scribe's name, on a green ground, 172 x 102 mm.
17. In shikasteh, copied by Muhammad Reza al-Qazwini, in Lahijan at the end of Rajab 1282/mid-December 1865, on a brown ground, 142 x 90 mm.
18. In shikasteh, on a brown ground, 190 x 120 mm.

Album B:
1. A practice sheet in nasta'liq script, no scribe's name or date, 296 x 220 mm.
2. A draft copy of part of a letter in shikasteh written diagonally, no scribe's name or date, 198 x 160 mm.
3. A practice sheet in shikasteh, no scribe's name or date, 170 x 146 mm.
4. In shikasteh, parts of a Persian ghazal, 215 x 113 mm.
5. In shikasteh, an incomplete text or a fragment, 162 x 117 mm.
6. In shikasteh, Persian couplets, 220 x 166 mm.
7. In shikasteh, a draft and damaged copy of a letter with the name Aqa Mirza Nasrullah, no date, 195 x 133 mm.

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