Anthologie de poésie au format "safina". Lot n° 39

Poetic anthology in a “safina” format Ottoman Turkey, 1550-1600 Poetic manuscript of 92 ff., on ivory, coloured ar marbled paper, written in black Ottoman taliq, most often in two columns of 10 to 14 lines in black and gold jadval (frame). The text includes ghazals (poems) of Fuzuli, Mahmud Abdülbaki, Rohi Baghdadi and others, with marginal annotations from different hands. Three pages bear drawings of a peri (fairy) next to a tree, a fight between a dragon and a simurgh and two leafy scrolls. Binding in maroquin leather stamped and gilded with a central mandorla and spandrels. Same decor on the case. 21.5 x 7 cm This type of manuscript, whose content and form were initiated under the Timurids in the 15th century, became increasingly popular in Persian and Turkish court manuscript productions. These Safina anthologies contain poems and decorative motifs selected according to the tastes of the patron, and as such were highly personal objects, prized by their owners who took them with them on journeys, and of which only rare copies have survived. The term safina - taken from the Arabic word for ship - seems to have been used for the oblong shape of this type of manuscript, the advantage of which was that it was easily portable and could fit into the folds of a garment. The three pencil drawings, done in the "saz" style, take up three themes that enjoyed great popularity in the 16th century. The saz style, which originated in Tabriz or Herat in the 15th century, acquired its letters of nobility in Turkey around 1555-1560. These drawings, always monochrome during the first phase of the style's development, show fanciful floral forms, sometimes accompanied by animal figures such as dragons and simurghs (Cleveland Museum of ART, acc. 1944.492). The importance of line is fundamental to these drawings. The saz style ceased to be popular in manuscripts around 1600, limiting the production of our safina in time. The influence of the works of the great masters Shāh Qulī (active circa 1550) and Vālī Jān (active circa 1580) are reflected in the pages of this unique volume. While its contents are a far cry from the sumptuous imperial productions, this collection provides a previously unpublished insight into the private use of poetic manuscripts, as well as their transmission within narrow circles of connoisseurs. In terms of content, decoration and history, it can be considered a truly representative specimen of 16th-century Ottoman artistic, literary and material production. Provenance : Private collection, Persian Gulf. This lot is sold as a temporary import.