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Manuscript F

Page size: 34.5 x 22.0-22.5 cm.
The text is written in four columns in fairly large and fluent nastaʿliq 27 lines to the page.
Text area: 25.0 x 15.0 cm.

A dispersed manuscript with paintings of varying quality of which eighteen leaves are known to us. The paintings are of various sizes. Five of the eighteen known paintings are signed by Mo¯in, including two that are dated 1077/1666-67. Some of the miniatures have been severely damaged and suffered even more from very crude retouching.

Location:
- Currently eight of the leaves are in the Khalili Collection (2-Barzu, 3-khosrow, 3-236, 6-347, 6-354, 6-410, 7-128, and one identified subject)
- One leaf each in the author's collection (5-163) and in the Brooklyn Museum (8-399).
- Three leaves are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2-014, 2-059, 5-240), two of which were donated by Richard Ettinghausen.
- Three other leaves were in the Ettinghausen Collection, and later sold at auction (6-239, 6-355, 8-205); current whereabouts unknown.
- Two other badly damaged leaves (5-243, 5-272) were last known to be in the hands of Kraus; current whereabouts unknown.

Dating:
Two miniatures are dated 1077/1666-67, which may be taken as a general date for all of them.

Provenence:
The Sotheby sale catalog of Kevorkian Foundation assets on 6 December 1967 is the earliest citation of this manuscript in the literature known to us. According to the sale catalog, lot 210 consisted of 34 individual leaves with 33 miniature paintings, of which 13 had the signature of Moʿin. Some were also dated 1077/1666-67. The lot was acquired by S.H. Kraus, a New York dealer, who subsequently broke it up and sold the leaves individually or in batches. Toward this end, In 1976, Kraus published an oversized catalog prepared by Ernst Grube, which included illustrations of 10 of the miniatures. Eight of the ten miniatures were acquired by the Khalili Collection. Richard Ettinghausen acquired three for the Metropolitan Museum, and three for his own collection which were sold at auctions during the years 2010-2013. The author's painting was acquired directly from Kraus; presumably the Brooklyn Museum leaf was likewise acquired by Babbott. If the Sotheby sale catalog is accurate, 16 miniatures, of which 8 are signed by the artist, remain unidentified.

Bibliography:
Grube, Kraus, nos. 163-172
Sothebys London, 6 Dec. 1967, Lot 210

Robert Eng
Last Updated: May 16, 2016. Originally published: May 16, 2016.