Johnson 7,3

Sufis in ecstasy.

Attributed to Muhammad Nadir al-Samarqandi, Mughal, c.1650-55.

Richard Johnson Collection. Purchased 1807.

Inscribed above doorway in Persian: ‘chih majlis ki daru ganj-i kibriya bakhshand, hazar afsar-i shahi bi [sic] gadar bakhshand’ (what a session in which they bestow a treasure of magnificence, they bestow a thousand royal crowns on a beggar); two other couplets written in red on the right and left are of a mystical nature in praise of sensibilities; other shorter inscriptions are in praise of Allah and saints; inscribed on border: ‘Ashkar Khan’; and:’ Muhammad Hafiz shud dar’ ... ‘tahvil az’ ... ‘tahvil-i Muhafiz Khan hashtam-i rabi‘al-avval sannah 23’ (Muhammad Hafiz was in the ... of consignment from the ... in charge of Muhafiz Khan 8th Rabi‘ I, year 23); on reverse: ‘avurdan-i’ (?)’ muraqqa‘yak ru khatt yak ru tasvir 3 ramadan sannah 17 tahvil-i la’l’ ... ‘shud’ (the bringing of the album, on one side calligraphy on one side a picture, 3rd Ramadan year 17, was in charge of Lal ... ); and: ‘qaimat -i khatt 8’ (the price is 8).

Gouache with gold; on an album leaf with borders on both sides of flowers in gold on an uncoloured ground.

299 by 159 mm; page 422 by 295 mm.

On the left is a square seal accompanied by a ‘siyaq’ numeral and a similar inscription stating that the picture and calligraphy were in the consignment of Muhafiz Khan, inspected 19th Jumada II year 4. On the right is an oval seal with the name Rahmat Khan. On the reverse an oval seal dated 1119(?) is accompanied by an inspection note dated Rabi‘ I, year 23; a larger circular seal is not legible.

Reverse: ‘nasta‘liq’ calligraphy with the spurious date AH966/AD1558-59.

Reproduced: Losty and Leach (1998), pl. 10.

Sufis are dancing and collapsing before six shaikhs who sit in a semi-circle on a floral carpet, each dressed in a jama beneath a Persian-style coat with long sleeves. The structure of a palace or shrine behind them has decorated alcoves and gold turrets.

Note: Muhammad Nadir al-Samarqandi painted a series of illustrations to the story of Yusuf and Zulaykha, once prepared for a manuscript, but now on album pages. The greatest number of these are in an album in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (Ms 31), where folio 12 is signed by the artist as being ‘in Kashmir’, indicating that he was working there at that time. A stray illustration from the series is in the Binney Collection (Binney (1973), no.63). The Johnson picture is apparently not part of the same series of miniatures, but is painted in precisely the same style with the inscriptions on the buildings and the gold turrets modelled in black. The style relates to the Bukhara school of Persian painting through which the inspiration for this subject and the characterisation of the figures can be traced back to the work of Bihzad.