An illustrated and illuminated leaf from a manuscript of Firdausi's Shahnameh: The Arrival of Barbad in the garden of Khusrau Parviz, Persia, Qazwin, Safavid, last quarter 16th century

Private Collection, Denmark, 1960s, thence by descent

The present and following two leaves originate from a dispersed Shahnameh closely related to manuscripts that have been attributed to the Qazwin school. The paintings share a clear affinity to a late sixteenth-century Qazwin Shahnameh manuscript in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait (inv. no.LNS 223 MS, see Adamova and Bayani, 2015, pp.459-483, no.32); another in the British Library, dated 1604 AD (inv. no.IO Islamic 966), and the Garshaspnameh of Asadi, also in the British Library, which expands and complements Firdausi’s original text (inv. no.Or.12985, dated 1573). Further illustrated folios from this manuscript were sold in these rooms, 25 October 2023, lots 38-44, and 26 October 2022, lots 43-48. For a further discussion, please see the online entry for this lot.