• Nizami (d.1209), Khamsa, copied by Khwaja Mir ibn Shams al-Din Muhammad Munshi Astarabadi, Persia, Safavid, dated 966 AH/1558-9 AD 1558 - 1559
  • Handicrafts and classics, Calligraphy, manuscript
  • 15.8 * 23.2 cm
  • Persian manuscript on paper, 342 leaves plus 2 fly-leaves, 21 lines to the page, written in neat black nasta'liq arranged in four gold-outlined columns, titles in red, blue and gold and polychrome illuminated title pages, with twenty-three paintings, five polychrome and gold headings, one title page missing, misbound and possibly incomplete, in a black morocco binding with stamped decoration
Estimation
£10,000
13,089 USD
- £15,000
19,634 USD
Realized Price
£22,680
29,686 USD
81.44%
Artwork Description

The manuscript begins with the Makhzan al-Asrar (The Treasury or Storehouse of Mysteries), lacking its beginning and title page, and continues with Khusraw and Shirin, Layla and Majnun, Haft Paykar (The Seven Beauties), and the Iskandarnameh, divided in the Sarafnameh and the Iqbalnameh. The manuscript has been occasionally misbound as the order of some of the paintings does not mirror the original narrative. The subjects of the miniatures remaining in the present manuscript are as follows:

From the Makhzan al-Asrar 
1.Anushirvan and the owls

From Khusraw and Shirin
2. Battle between Khusraw and Bahram Chubin 
3. Farhad brought before Khusraw 
4. Khusraw arriving at Shirin's castle
5. Khusraw and Shirin together

From Layla and Majnun
6. Majnun brought in chains to Layla's tent
7. Majnun in the wilderness with the animals
8. Majnun kneeling by Layla's tent

From the Haft Paykar
9. Battle scene
10. Bahram Gur with the Chinese Princess in the Yellow Pavilion
11. Bahram Gur with the Khwarazm Princess in the Green Pavilion
12. Bahram Gur with the Russian Princess in the Red Pavilion
13. Tale of the Rum Princess: Good is saved by a Kurdish girl after his sight was stolen by Evil
14. Bahram Gur with the Persian Princess in the White Pavilion
15. The Prophet Muhammad on Buraq

From the Iskandarnameh
16. Iskandar with the Khaqan of Chin
17. Iskandar fighting the Zangis
18. Iskandar comforting the dying Dara
19. Iskandar with Nushabeh
20. Debate between Roman and Chinese painters
21. Iskandar’s campaigns against the Russian
22. Khizr drinks from the spring of Immortal life
23. Iskandar invites seven philosophers to discuss the creation of the world
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Artist Performance at Auctions

Realized Price 69,501 USD
Min Estimate 36,463 USD
Max Estimate 54,751 USD
Average Artwork Worth
+87.283%
 
Average Growth of Artwork Worth
Sales Performance Against Estimates
Average & Median Sold Lot Value
2018 - 2022
Performance vs. Estimate
2018 - 2022
Sell-through Rate
2018 - 2022