FOUR QAJAR MURAQQA' ALBUM PAGES WITH MANUSCRIPT ILLUSTRATIONS
Iran, mid to late 19th century

Opaque pigments, white wash, ink and pencil on paper, each mounted on red album page borders, comprising an opening folio of a finely illuminated volume surmounting an unrelated scene with a young gentleman offering flowers to a young lady wearing a long black hijab, revealing her face and hennaed hand; an elegant and heavily bejewelled Qajar prince and attendant in a natural landscape; and two illustrations from the Khamsa of Nizami Ganjavi, Joseph being taken out of the well, and Leyla visiting Majnun in the wilderness surrounded by wild beasts, each 13cm x 6.5cm, 33cm x 21cm including the album border.