Yusuf wa Zuleykha - Deux grands plats de reliure

Two papier-mâché lacquered flap bindings depicting Yusuf stages of life, inscribed with some verses from Jami, Persia, late 18th - early 19th century In polychrome-painted lacquered papier-mâché, one depicts the story of Yusuf's brothers, who go to fetch wheat to please their father and are jealous of Yusuf; the other, Zuleykha organizes a ceremony to present Yusuf's beauty to her court. Framed with verses from the Divan of Jami. Size: 51 x 32.5 cm each. Framed under glass. Provenance : Public sale, Maître Boisgirard, December 5 and 6, 1989, n°281 and 282. These binding flaps are inspired by the Romance of Yusuf va Zoleykha de Jami, also told in the Bible and the Quran. Yusuf, sold as a slave to the Egyptian vizier Aziz (Putiphar in the Bible), then thrown into prison on false charges, interprets the Pharaoh's dreams and is freed. When Aziz died, his widow Zolaykha married Yusuf, who had meanwhile become Prince of Egypt.