THREE ILLUMINATED ALBUM PAGES OF NASTA’LIQ CALLIGRAPHY
Iran, 16th and 19th century

Persian manuscripts on paper, comprising a Safavid album page with a nasta'liq calligraphic composition in black ink sprinkled with gold, quoting Kamal ud-Din Isma’il (1172-1237)’s ruba’i 567, the opposing end triangles with scrolling illumination in cobalt, polychromes, and gold, inscribed Sultan Ali Mashhadi, a late Timurid - early Safavid Persian calligrapher and master of nasta'liq script (1453 - 1520), set within gold and black rules, and double illuminated borders, laid on pink paper, mounted, framed and glazed, the text panel 17cm x 8.8cm, 40.3cm x 29cm including the frame; a Qajar ruba’i in chalipa format eulogising a ruler, the text gathered in gold-sprinkled cloudbands, the ground elaborately illuminated in polychromes and gold, signed Khorshid Ali, within multiple blue and gold rules, mounted, framed and glazed, the text panel 22.5cm x 10.4cm, 47.3cm x 33.5cm including the frame; and another similar calligraphic composition, the text Sonnet 118 by Hafiz, on marbled paper, employing two different thicknesses of reed pen, laid on pale blue paper delicately illuminated in gold, the top and sides with cobalt blue, polychrome, and gold motifs, the text panel 24cm x 8.3cm, 54cm x 39cm including the frame.