Moʿin Moṣavver | Individual Drawings and Paintings
Painting 1676.6
A Youth Kneeling, Playing a Flute
Location: Current whereabouts unknown. Formerly in the Collection of Walter Cabot
Painting: (H x W) 18.3 x 9.4 cm., Leaf: 38.3 x 24.7 cm.
Signature: Signed and dated 1087/1676.
Inscription
At the bottom left corner, reads: betāriḵ-e bist-va-sevom šahr-e rabiʿ˙al-avval sana 1087 be etmåm rasid moʿin-e moṣavver. Translation: “Completed the twenty-third of the month of Rabiʿ I in the year 1087/6 June 1676 [by] Moʿin Moṣavver”. The inscription is in Moʿin’s handwriting.
Description:
A youth, perhaps a shepherd, dressed in a blue robe with a purple sash around his waist and a large magenta turban on his head, is kneeling on the grround, and playing a long slender flute. His body is turned halfway to the left while turning his head and arms to the right. The setting is an austere landscape with sparsely located vegetation, rocks, and scroll clouds rendered in gold against the uncolored paper background. Painting is pasted down on an album page with a green inner border and a cream outer border.
Bibliography:
Sothebys London, 18 Oct 2001, Lot 59.
Sothebys London, 9 Apr 2008, Lot 54.
Commentary:
The calligraphic line that captures the gesture with econimy and certainty -- a single line that gos from the neck to the wrist, or another from the armpit to the knee - contrasted with the fine stocatto strokes of the folds of the clothing is a virtual hallmark of the Moʿin style. The Pensive Youth in the British Museum (1676.3), painted only a month or two earlier, reveals a number of common characteristics both share, and if that is not enough, the inscription on the Youth Playing the Flute has a dated inscription and Moʿin's signature -- and in total can be considered one of the more secure attributions to Moʿin Moṣavver.
Photo courtesy of Sothebys,
Robert Eng
Last Updated: 1 May 2019| Originally published: 1 May 2019
Painting 1676.6
A Youth Kneeling, Playing a Flute
Location: Current whereabouts unknown. Formerly in the Collection of Walter Cabot
Painting: (H x W) 18.3 x 9.4 cm., Leaf: 38.3 x 24.7 cm.
Signature: Signed and dated 1087/1676.
Inscription
At the bottom left corner, reads: betāriḵ-e bist-va-sevom šahr-e rabiʿ˙al-avval sana 1087 be etmåm rasid moʿin-e moṣavver. Translation: “Completed the twenty-third of the month of Rabiʿ I in the year 1087/6 June 1676 [by] Moʿin Moṣavver”. The inscription is in Moʿin’s handwriting.
Description:
A youth, perhaps a shepherd, dressed in a blue robe with a purple sash around his waist and a large magenta turban on his head, is kneeling on the grround, and playing a long slender flute. His body is turned halfway to the left while turning his head and arms to the right. The setting is an austere landscape with sparsely located vegetation, rocks, and scroll clouds rendered in gold against the uncolored paper background. Painting is pasted down on an album page with a green inner border and a cream outer border.
Bibliography:
Sothebys London, 18 Oct 2001, Lot 59.
Sothebys London, 9 Apr 2008, Lot 54.
Commentary:
The calligraphic line that captures the gesture with econimy and certainty -- a single line that gos from the neck to the wrist, or another from the armpit to the knee - contrasted with the fine stocatto strokes of the folds of the clothing is a virtual hallmark of the Moʿin style. The Pensive Youth in the British Museum (1676.3), painted only a month or two earlier, reveals a number of common characteristics both share, and if that is not enough, the inscription on the Youth Playing the Flute has a dated inscription and Moʿin's signature -- and in total can be considered one of the more secure attributions to Moʿin Moṣavver.
Photo courtesy of Sothebys,
Robert Eng
Last Updated: 1 May 2019| Originally published: 1 May 2019
