THREE INDIAN ALBUM PAGES WITH NASTA'LIQ CALLIGRAPHY
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Mughal India, 17th century

Comprising three album pages of Persian manuscript on paper, two pages with short sonnets arranged in two columns of black nasta’liq script in cloudbands against burnished gold ground, the sonnets marked with horizontal bands, each with a pair of polychrome birds against gold-decorated vegetal motifs, within illuminated triple border of green, pink, and yellow, in white and gold rules, on blue paper laid on card, the text panel 12.6cm x 6.2cm, the folio 29cm x 18.5cm; and the third one a later-assembled page with eight horizontal bands of pairs of birds above and below a sonnet, the border featuring scrolling lotus flowers and vegetal motifs with birds, deer, rabbits, and fox in gold, the text panel 16cm x 6.6cm, the folio 31.5cm x 20.8cm.