TWO SAFAVID MANUSCRIPT ILLUSTRATIONS
Safavid Iran, late 16th - 17th century

Opaque pigments, ink, and gold on paper, comprising a vertical composition with a group of men gathering around a fainted youth, the eldest of the group gesticulating in a manner delivering concern and worry, the text cartouche in the foreground rubbed and now plain, the background featuring purplish pink rocky mountains, slender verdant trees, and a shimmering, gold-painted sky, 14cm x 7.8cm; and another similar composition portraying a group of riders on horseback, possibly a hunting group, wearing a variety of headgears including a fur-lined Mongol hat, a conical golden helmet, and multi-folded turbans, every character vaunting a colorful and elegant robe with gold-embroidered designs attesting to the high social rank of the group, two men observing the scene behind a rocky mound, a sinuous tree with autumnal-coloured leaves spreading across the borders, two text cartouches at the top rubbed and now plain, 15cm x 9cm, both manuscript illustrations set within concentric polychrome rules, and gold-sprinkled red borders, the reverse plain, in a double white cardboard mount, 35.5cm x 45.5cm including the mount.