An exceptional series of 50 meticulously executed miniatures, compiled and painted by an anonymous artist. 41 of the delicate watercolours represent famous calligraphers, 5 (1 in grisaille) presumably represent sufis, and one more (not coloured) shows a seated prince, while 3 miniatures (2 in grisaille) depict flowers.
The main series of calligraphers begins with Yaqut al-Mustasimi, who lived in Baghdad under the Abbasid dynasty in the 13th century, and continues so far as to include artists from the first half of the 19th century (the most recent date of death being that of Aqa Fath-Ali Sirazi, 1852/53). Their names are captioned under the image, all in the same hand in nastaliq script (with a single exception in sikasta). Most calligraphers are shown kneeling, with one knee raised on which they rest their paper - the typical posture of a scribe. One is shown writing at a desk, another seated on a low stool; yet another is busy sharpening his pen. The poet Wisal Sirazi is seen writing on his knee, but has a small table with an inkwell and paper in front of him.
All the miniatures bear numbers from 1 to 50 on the back of the mounting boards, though they are not bound in order.
Provenance: apparently from the collection of Paul Manteau, a French (or Belgian?) official in Iran, with a press-copied salary receipt loosely inserted: "Je reconnais avoir reçu de Son Altesse Impériale Djellal-e-Daulet la somme de Soixante Tomans représentant le montant de mes appointements du mois de Châval année 1310. Téhéran le 11 avril 1893. Paul Manteau".
Manteau does not appear in Annette Destrées standard account of Les fonctionnaires Belges au service de la Perse, 1898-1915 (Téhéran/Liège 1976): he clearly arrived before the great Belgian influx and may have left the country before 1898.
Some of the cloth concertina hinges professionally repaired, but finely preserved overall.