Walters Ms. W.691, Single leaf of courtiers at a reception of Shah `Abbas I Courtiers at a reception of Shah 'Abbas I Principal cataloger Gacek, Adam Cataloger Landau, Amy Cataloger Smith, Sita Copy editor Bockrath, Diane Contributor Barrera, Christina Contributor Emery, Doug Contributor Herbert, Lynley Contributor Noel, William Contributor Simpson, Shreve Contributor Tabritha, Ariel Contributor Toth, Michael B. Contributor Valle, Chiara Conservator Jewell, Stephanie Conservator Quandt, Abigail The Walters Art Museum

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.

 This painting depicts courtiers of the Safavid ruler Shāh ʿAbbās I (r. 996 AH / 1588 CE -- 1038 AH / 1629 CE). It is the right side of a double-page composition, which most likely served as a frontispiece to a manuscript. Certain courtiers of Shāh ʿAbbās I are identified by name. In the far upper right two men stand wearing turbans with vertical extensions held at the center, who are identified as Alpān Bīk (Beg) (in a blue robe) and Qarajaghāy Khān (in a red robe). Their headdress is distinctive of high-ranking members of court during the early eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE. Qarajaghāy Khān, an Armenian of the royal household, held a number of political positions at court and was an important patron of the arts. Standing lower down on the right side is Shāh Vardī Bīk Ishik Aqāsī (literally master of the threshold, or master of ceremonies) (in a gold and black robe). An Uzbek envoy (īlchī-yi Ūzbak) (in a beige and blue patterned robe) is seated on the carpet. Falconers, grooms, and a musician (Qubād-i Kurd) standing beside a man identified as Mīrzā ʿUmar (?) Shaykh (in a red and gold robe) are also shown. There are two seated female figures, identified as Gulparī and Dukhtardallālah. The latter seems to denote a woman who procures enslaved girls for the palace. This single leaf has been associated with Reception at the court of Shah`Abbas I, also housed at the Walters Art Museum (W.771, fol. 50a). However, it is unlikely that the two ever formed a double-page composition. Baltimore The Walters Art Museum W.691 The primary language in this manuscript is Persian. W.691a - W.691b Courtiers at a reception of Shah 'Abbas I

Mounted on pasteboard

 Foliation: Not applicable39.5 23.5 Image: 19.8 cm wide by 31.0 cm high Written in nastaʿlīq script Wide polychrome illuminated border Courtiers of Shāh ʿAbbās I Illustration This painting depicts courtiers of the Safavid ruler Shāh ʿAbbās I (r. 996 AH / 1588 CE -- 1038 AH / 1629 CE). It is the right side of a double-page composition, which most likely served as a frontispiece to a manuscript. Certain courtiers of Shāh ʿAbbās I are identified by name. In the far upper right two men stand wearing turbans with vertical extensions held at the center, who are identified as Alpān Bīk (Beg) (in a blue robe) and Qarajaghāy Khān (in a red robe). Their headdress is distinctive of high-ranking members of court during the early eleventh century AH / seventeenth CE. Qarajaghāy Khān, an Armenian of the royal household, held a number of political positions at court and was an important patron of the arts. Standing lower down on the right side is Shāh Vardī Bīk Ishik Aqāsī (lit. master of the threshold, or master of ceremonies) (in a gold and black robe). An Uzbek envoy (īlchī-yi Ūzbak) (in a beige and blue patterned robe) is seated on the carpet. Falconers, grooms, and a musician (Qubād-i Kurd) standing beside a man identified as Mīrzā ʿUmar (?) Shaykh (in a red and gold robe) are also shown. There are two seated female figures, identified as Gulparī and Dukhtardallālah. The latter seems to denote a woman who procures enslaved girls for the palace. This page has been associated with Reception at the court of Shah`Abbas I, also housed at the Walters Art Museum (W.771, fol. 50a). However, it is unlikely that the two ever formed a double-page composition. Courtiers of Shāh ʿAbbās I (back) Back Mid 11th century AH / 17th CE Iran Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters bequest Relevant Works Schmitz, Barbara. “On a Special Hat Introduced During the Reign of Shah ʿAbbās the Great.” Iran: Journal of Persian Studies 22 (1984): 103-112. Simpson, Marianna Shreve. "Shah 'Abbas and his Picture Bible." In The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library's Medieval Picture Bible. (Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2002), 200, cat. 41. Robinson, B.W. and E. Sims. The Windsor Shahnama of 1648. (London: Azimuth Editions for the Roxburghe Club, 2007), 202, figs. 1 and 1a. Canby, Sheila R. Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran. (London: British Museum Press, 2009), 133, cat. 51. Art Medicine Museum Poetry Script Muhammad, the Prophet Kashmiri Horses Walters Art Museum Document Astrology Devotion History Legal Literature -- Poetry Literature -- Prose Liturgy Philosophy Science Science -- Medicine Scripture Sufism Theology Mineralogy Logic Geography Geomancy Cosmology Cartography Fortune-telling Koran Qur`an Firman Palimpsest Prayer Bible Gospels Psalter Missal Lectionary Book of Hours Antiphonary Homilary Processional Horologion Breviary Hymnal Chronicle Maghreb Sub-Saharan (West) Africa Turkey Afghanistan Central Asia Egypt England India Iran Iraq Pakistan Germany France Austria Netherlands Ethiopia Armenia Flanders Greece Mamluk Mughal Ottoman Ottonian Armenian Byzantine Abbasid Qajar Rajput Christian Arabic Austrian Dutch Egyptian Fatimid German Indian Islamic Persian Safavid Timurid Turkish Umayyad English French Flemish Ethiopian Carolingian Calligraphy Colophon Headpiece Illumination Illustration Medallion Miniature Ornament Painting Early Abbasid script Ragini Romanesque Gothic Watermark Grotesques Historiated initial Inhabited initial White-vine lettering Textura Batarda Humanistic Uncial Accordion book Album Book Codex Manuscript Heraldry Saint's Life Drawing Grisaille New Abbasid style Musical notation Russia Romania Charter Russian Genealogy Mass book Prayer book Gospel Lectionary Psalter-Hours Treatise Grammar Gloss Pontifical Private devotional text Gradual Protective scroll Scroll 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 8th century 9th century Block book Caroline minuscule Central Arab lands (Near East) Chart English secretary hand Kufic Gothic book hand Original binding Treasure binding Gospel Book Spanish Spain Italian Italy Coptic Scrapbook American United States Maryland Historical Society Friendship book Friendship Biography Judaism Talmud Collection of Sermons Notable Notable binding Textbook Scholarly compendium Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Literature Japanese Japan Nordic Scandinavia Catalog Dictionary Spanish Colonial Mexico Mayan Haggadah Switzerland Confessional Mirror Liturgical Devotional Scriptural Theological Legal Historical Scientific Scientific -- Medical Literary -- Prose Literary -- Poetry Philosophical Astrological Sufi English Illustration Iran Walters Art Museum Persian Safavid Illumination Islamic Miniature Painting