Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Persian Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border of flowers, birds, and deer Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)

Page from the Late Shah Jahan Album: Persian Calligraphy framed by an ornamental border of flowers, birds, and deer

calligraphy: c. 1500–1540; border: c. 1630–40

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Mir 'Ali Haravi

(Persian, active in Herat, Afghanistan, died c. 1550)

Mughal India, court of Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–58)

Gum tempera, gold, and ink on paper

Overall: 36.8 x 25.2 cm (14 1/2 x 9 15/16 in.)

Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy 1977.207

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

On the right, two white-throated kingfishers, a species native to Asia, sit on thin vines.

Description

About 100 years after the calligraphy was completed by a Persian master and embellished with gold and floral arabesques, the small page was mounted into an album for the Mughal emperor of India. Mughal artists filled the outer border with floral vines, blooming and budding with many varieties. Pairs of birds perch throughout; male and female deer relax, listening to the birdsong. The Indian artists chose to emphasize nature’s abundance and life-giving forces, whereas the Persian artists sought to achieve exquisite, gemlike refinement.

The central poem, by Ibn-i Yamin (Persian, 1286–1368), encourages the reader not to worry about unexpected calamities.