Search the collections

Fullscreen

Collecting Turkmen Jewelry: The Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection

Collecting Turkmen Jewelry: The Marshall and Marilyn R. Wolf Collection
(00:03:22) 900 views

Related Content

A Stallion

A Stallion

Folio from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds)

Folio from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds)

"A Ruffian Spares the Life of a Poor Man", Folio from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds)

"Shaykh San'an beneath the Window of the Christian Maiden", Folio from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds)

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

"The Concourse of the Birds", Folio from a Mantiq al-tair (Language of the Birds)

Painting by Habiballah of Sava  (active ca. 1590–1610)

Author:
Farid al-Din `Attar (ca. 1142–1220)
Object Name:
Folio from an illustrated manuscript
Reign:
Shah `Abbas I (1587–1629)
Date:
ca. 1600
Geography:
Iran, Isfahan
Medium:
Ink, opaque watercolor, gold, and silver, on paper
Dimensions:
Painting: H. 10 in. (25.4 cm) W. 4 1/2in. (11.4cm) Page: H. 13 in. (33 cm) W. 8 3/16 in. (20.8 cm) Mat: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification:
Codices
Credit Line:
Fletcher Fund, 1963
Accession Number:
63.210.11

This artwork is not on display

  • Description

    The poetic text of 'Attar’s Mantiq al‑Tair comprises a series of parables narrated by the hoopoe, who leads a gathering of birds on a difficult journey to find the mythic Simurgh. Perhaps the best‑known image from the manuscript, this folio illustrates the small, crested hoopoe bird addressing his companions before their departure. This charming painting is one of four added to the original manuscript in the early seventeenth century at the court of Shah 'Abbas (r. 1587–1629), and is signed by the painter Habiballah.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Signature: In Persian: "Signed by Habib Allah".

    Inscription: (In Persian): "Painted by order of Shah `Abbas" [added when manuscript was remounted]; (in Arabic, across tree at left): "charitable foundation" (waqf) In Persian language and in Nasta‘liq script: Attar, Munṭiq al-Ṭayr منطق الطیر story مجمع مرغان (Birds conference) of the beginning of the book. (Farīd al-Dīn ‘Aṭṭār, Munṭiq al-Ṭayr, ed. Sayyid Ṣādiq Guharīn, Bungāh Tarjama va Nashr-I Kitāb publication, Tehran, 1342/1959, p.39). A.Ghouchani

  • Provenance

    Shah Abbas, Isfahan, Iran (until 1609; to Ardebil Shrine); Ardebil Shrine, Iran (1609–1826); Dr. M. Farid Parwanta(until 1963; sale, Sotheby's, London,December 9, 1963, lot 111; to MMA)

  • See also
    Who
    What
    Where
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
140009057

Close