Verses from Sa'adi's Gulistan, signed Mir 'Ali (d.1544)

Verses from Sa'adi's Gulistan, signed Mir 'Ali (d.1544)

Central Asia, Safavid art, 16th century

Calligraphy in black ink, illuminated and mounted on an album page. The central panel is inscribed with nine lines of nasta'liq, diagonally and in reserve in cloudy cartouches on a gilded background embellished with flowers. The last line gives the name "faqir Mir 'Ali", (the humble Mir 'Ali). A long thuluth band runs along the right-hand side and three other cartouches border the whole. Small panels of Chinese tchi clouds. Wide Qajar-period gold margins. Page 39.5 x 20.5 cm; Calligraphy: 26 x 13 cm Born in Herat, Mir Ali al-Harawi was a pupil of Zayn al-Din Mahmud and Sultan Ali Mashhadi. Under the latter's supervision, Mir 'Ali reached his full potential and, in the early 17th century, Qadi Ahmad admired the scribe's development, declaring: "He has brought the art of the large and small (script), and the writing of samples (qit'a) and inscriptions to the highest degree (of perfection) and placed it on a canopy so high that the hand of no calligrapher can reach it". Mir 'Ali worked at the court of the Timurid sultan Husayn Mirza, but when Herat was taken by the Uzbeks in 1528-29, like many other artists, he went into exile in Bukhara, where he served Prince Abd al-'Aziz Khan. He was a prolific calligrapher and, by the early 17th century, his works were widespread. The Safavid prince Bahram Mirza and the Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan were particularly fond of his work, and his calligraphy featured in a number of Mughal imperial albums. Verses from a Gulistan of Sa'adi, signed Mir 'Ali (d.1544) Central Asia, Safavid period, 16th century