The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Calligraphy of Chaghatai Turkish Poems in Praise of Wine (verso)

c. 1500–1520
calligraphy by

Mirza Muhammad

(probably Persian, active c. 1520s)
calligraphy by

and Sultan Muhammad Nur

(Persian, c. 1472–1536)
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Page: 36.2 x 24.3 cm (14 1/4 x 9 9/16 in.)
Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.292.b
Location: 242B Indian Painting(not visible)

Description

This page of delicately illuminated calligraphy from the pre-Mughal period was mounted into a Mughal album. The poems are written in the native language of the Mughals, a form of Turkish called Chaghatai, using a flowing form of Arabic script called nasta‘liq. The Mughals self-consciously adopted Persian as their official court language, so few Chaghatai books or works of calligraphy were made for them.

The quatrain in the center reads: The wine has made an attempt on my life, Since it is the wine that can wear down the pain of separation. O Sufi! Let the mosque be for you, and the tavern for me, Since you need to arrive at the Spring of Kowsar, while I am in need of wine! The Spring of Kowsar is where the righteous quench their thirst in the afterlife.
  • ?–1929
    E. E. [Edward Earle] Meugens [1875–1929], Calcutta and England, by descent to J. R. Meugens
    1929–1969
    J. R. Meugens
    July 1, 1969
    (Sotheby’s, London, Important Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, 1 July 1969, lot 80, sold to Ralph Benkaim)
    1969–2013
    Ralph Benkaim [1914–2001] and Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2013–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Wilson, Arnold Talbot. Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Persian Art; Partrons: His Majesty the King, His Majesty Rizā Shāh Pahlavi. 7th January to 28th February, 1931, Royal Academy of Arts, London. London: Office of the Exhibition [Printed by Gee & Co.], 1931. Mentioned: p. 250, no. 631
    Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 3, pp. 158, 160
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Calligraphy of Chaghatai Turkish Poems in Praise of Wine (verso)|url=false|author=Mirza Muhammad, Sultan Muhammad Nur|year=c. 1500–1520|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2013.292.b