Grisaille au dragon Lot n° 279

Ottoman Turkey, after Shah Quli, 1570 or later Pencil and ink with gold highlights on paper. Leaflet mounted on an album page. A dragon or qilin (chimeric figure) in the middle of flames, saz leaves and pomegranate flowers seems to attack a phoenix bird. Drawing : 16 x 10,5 cm Page : 32,3 x 23,6 cm A dragon or qilin in saz leaves, Ottoman Turkey, after Shah Quli, 1570 or later Black ink on paper, a dragon amid foliage confronts the head of a simurgh emerging from saz leaves, This drawing is directly inspired by the Timurid tradition. It can be compared to the grisaille with dragon in saz leaves, dating from the 2nd half of the 16th century, (inv. no. MAO 2253), or Christies, 25 April 2013, lot 38. Shah Quli (d. 1555/56) was the most important proponent of the lyrical "saz style" of 16th-century Ottoman court painting. Head of Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent's workshop for more than ten years, he is first recorded as a craftsman taken from Tabriz by Selim I after the battle of Çaldiran in 1514 (J.M.Rogers, Empire of the Sultans, London, 1995, p. 224). He is known for his series of drawings of dragons. The inclusion of one of his unfinished sketches in the album compiled in 1544 for the Safavid prince Bahram Mirza, demonstrates that in the mid-sixteenth century, Tabriz was considered an outstanding work. For other examples of dragons drawn in the "saz style" and a discussion of their dating, see Walter B. Denny, "Dating Ottoman Turkish Works in the Saz Style," Muqarnas, vol.I, Massachusetts, 1983, pp.103-21 . Shah Quli (d.1555/56) was the most important proponent of the lyrical "saz style" of Ottoman court painting in the 16th century. Head of the atelier of Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent for more than ten years, he is first recorded as a craftsman taken from Tabriz by Selim I after the battle of Çaldiran in 1514 (J.M.Rogers, Empire of the Sultans, London, 1995, p.224). He is known to have worked in a variety of media, but one of the things for which he is best known is a series of drawings of dragons. The inclusion of one of his unfinished sketches in the album compiled in 1544 for the Safavid prince Bahram Mirza, demonstrates that in mid-16th century Tabriz it was seen as a remarkable work. For further examples of dragons drawn in the "saz style" and a discussion on their dating see Walter B. Denny, 'Dating Ottoman Turkish Works in the Saz Style', Muqarnas, vol.I, Massachusetts, 1983, pp.103-21.