BELLE COMPOSITION CALLIGRAPHIQUE MONTÉE EN PAGE D'ALBUM : QUATRAIN ET EXTRAITS D'UN HAFT-O-RANG DE JAMI (TUHFAT AL-AHRAR)

SIGNED BY 'ALI REZA 'ABBASSI, IRAN OR INDIA, LATE 16th CENTURY Gouahe and gold ink on card, 4 lines of Persian poetry, in nast'aliq, in reserve on a blue background speckled with gold and a background illuminated with polychrome garlands on a gold background. A triangular register on an identical background contains the calligrapher's signature: "Katabahu 'Ali Reza al-'Abbassi ghafara thunubahu wa satara 'uyubahu".frieze of clouds inscribed in reserve on an illuminated background, outer border salmon with gold floral motifs. Calligraphy: 20 x 14 cm; Page: 36.5 x 26.5 cm. For another calligraphy by the same artist, see : Christie's, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including A Private Collection Donated to Benefit The University of Oxford, Part V, London, APRIL 10, 2014, lot 29. 'Ali Reza 'Abbasi was a calligrapher at the court of Shah 'Abbas. Born in Tabriz, he moved to Qazwin after the Ottoman invasion. He was first associated with Farhad Khan Qaramanlu, an officer of Shah 'Abbas's court. He was then invited to the Shah's court in Isfahan, with whom he developed a close relationship, acting as his librarian. His published works are dated between 1000 and 1025 H./1591 and 1617 (Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va Asar-e Khosh-Nevisan, Tehran, 1363/1984, pp. 456-61). Album pages signed by him were featured in the British Museum exhibition, Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran (Sheila R. Canby, Shah 'Abbas. The Remaking of Iran, exhibition catalog, London, 2009, p.44, no.6).