AN ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT FOLIO FROM A DISPERSED HAFT AWRANG BY JAMI: YUSUF AND ZULEYKHA
Iran, 18th century

Opaque pigments, ink, pencil and gold on paper, the loose folio from an illustrated Haft Awrang by Jami, section 69, Yusuf building an elegant prayer chapel for Zuleykha, the verso illustrating a joyous banquet in a palatial interior, the sacred lovers seated beneath an ogival arch, the flaming halo of Yusuf (Joseph) outshining Zuleykha's jewellery and the large gold-brocaded cushion behind them, in the foreground attendants delivering covered dishes accompanied by the notes of a tambourine; and the recto with 12ll. of crisp black ink nasta’liq script arranged in double columns within gold, red, and blue rules, the text set within gold-sprinkled pale salmon pink borders, on an off-white modern mount, the text panel 17.5cm x 10cm, the folio 27cm x 15.7cm, 30.5cm x 20.3cm including the mount.