A LOOSE MURAQQA' ALBUM PAGE OF SHIKASTEH NASTA'LIQ CALLIGRAPHY
Zand Iran, dated 1180 AH (1766 - 1767 AD) and inscribed by 'Abd al-Majid Taliqani

Persian manuscript on paper, with 9ll. of black ink shikasteh nasta'liq script set in cloudbands against a burnished gold ground filled with interlocking vegetal trellis and scrollwork in polychromes, the prose on the minutiae of tariqat (the path of Sufism), inscribed practiced by the poor Abdul-Majid and dated 1180 AH in the lower left corner, set within concentric decorative borders with polychrome fretwork, and blue, red, white, and black rules, laid on salmon pink cardboard mount, the recto with later-added black ink ownership notes and date (1282 AH) referring to the qit’a (oeuvre/piece) by Darwish to Aqa Sarkar Mirza Asad Ullah, the folio 17.8cm x 10cm, 29.2cm x 18cm including the mount.

According to the Encyclopaedia Islamica, Darwish 'Abd al-Majid Taliqani was the most renowned Zand calligrapher of the shikasteh nasta'liq script in 18th-century post-Safavid Iran. Born around 1150 AH (1737 AD) in the Taliqan district of Qazwin (thus his nisba, Taliqani), he moved to Isfahan at a young age, where his passion for calligraphy flourished and his formal training started. He was often referred to as 'Darwish' Taliqani owing to his ascetic practices. Taliqani is credited with the consolidation of the rules and proportions of the Persian shikasteh script. Another calligraphic panel in shikasteh nasta'liq script signed by the same calligrapher and dated 1177 AH (only three years ahead of our lot) was successfully sold at Christie's London, 21 October 2016, lot 227.