Moʿin Moṣavver | Individual Drawings and Paintings
Painting 1689.1
White Bird Sitting on a Rock
Location: Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, no.14.635. Formerly in the Goloubew Collection.
Painting: (H x W) 18 x 11.7 cm. (border not included)
Signature: Signed and dated 1100/1689.
Inscription
At the bottom, reads: betāriḵ-e šab-e dovvom-e jomādi al-avval sana 1100 ba etmām rasid. mašqa moʿin-e moṣavver. Translation: “Completed on the evening preceding the second of Jomādi I in the year 1100/22 February 1689. Drawn by Moʿin Moṣavver” The inscription is in the handwriting of Moʿin.
Description:
A white bird is sitting on a rock facing the left. Behind it is a small tree with clouds above drawn in gold on a yellow ground. To the left and in the near foreground is a small bush, a patch of green, and some stones.
Bibliography:
Coomaraswamy, Goloubew_1929, no.85, pl.XLVIII.
Kühnel, Pantheon,_1942 p.113.
Stchoukine, SA_1964, p.72.
Welch, SA_1973, no.79 (ill.).
Commentary:
There is only one other painting of comparable subject matter (1684.1) in the extant work of Moʿin, which is quite similar in many respects, but appears to be of somewhat more refined. The boldly shaded eye in this painting imbues the bird with a mean look that is almost comical in its inappropriateness, and may have been a determining factor prompting Stchoukine into rejecting its attribution to Moʿin. Yet the landscape elements are fully in keeping with the master’s style, and the signed inscription in Moʿin’s own handwriting is a factor that is not easy to dismiss as fictitious. Therefore, despite the apparent shortcomings or expectations that one might desire, the painting does appear to be a valid attribution to Moʿin Moṣavver.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Copyright © 2018 The Museum of Fine Arts, Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 and Picture Fund.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: November 16, 2018 | Originally published: November 16, 2018
Painting 1689.1
White Bird Sitting on a Rock
Location: Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, no.14.635. Formerly in the Goloubew Collection.
Painting: (H x W) 18 x 11.7 cm. (border not included)
Signature: Signed and dated 1100/1689.
Inscription
At the bottom, reads: betāriḵ-e šab-e dovvom-e jomādi al-avval sana 1100 ba etmām rasid. mašqa moʿin-e moṣavver. Translation: “Completed on the evening preceding the second of Jomādi I in the year 1100/22 February 1689. Drawn by Moʿin Moṣavver” The inscription is in the handwriting of Moʿin.
Description:
A white bird is sitting on a rock facing the left. Behind it is a small tree with clouds above drawn in gold on a yellow ground. To the left and in the near foreground is a small bush, a patch of green, and some stones.
Bibliography:
Coomaraswamy, Goloubew_1929, no.85, pl.XLVIII.
Kühnel, Pantheon,_1942 p.113.
Stchoukine, SA_1964, p.72.
Welch, SA_1973, no.79 (ill.).
Commentary:
There is only one other painting of comparable subject matter (1684.1) in the extant work of Moʿin, which is quite similar in many respects, but appears to be of somewhat more refined. The boldly shaded eye in this painting imbues the bird with a mean look that is almost comical in its inappropriateness, and may have been a determining factor prompting Stchoukine into rejecting its attribution to Moʿin. Yet the landscape elements are fully in keeping with the master’s style, and the signed inscription in Moʿin’s own handwriting is a factor that is not easy to dismiss as fictitious. Therefore, despite the apparent shortcomings or expectations that one might desire, the painting does appear to be a valid attribution to Moʿin Moṣavver.
Photo courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Copyright © 2018 The Museum of Fine Arts, Francis Bartlett Donation of 1912 and Picture Fund.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: November 16, 2018 | Originally published: November 16, 2018
