Miniature (Standing Couple)

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Whitehall

A man and woman stand on a hill and face one another. The man raises his left hand. His right hand is gloved and he has a sword by his side. Both figures wear highly decorated clothes and jewellery.

This is a copy of a page, probably from a Persian philosophical or mystical text. It may have been made in India or Pakistan for the tourist industry during the 20th century.

Places

Iran

Subjects

calligraphy/illumination, flower, Indian, man, woman, dress, necklace, sword

Materials & Techniques

gold paint, gouache (as artists material), ink, gouache drawing

Artist

Indian or Pakistani unknown

Title

Miniature (Standing Couple)

Date

Medium

Ink and gouache with gold paint on paper

Dimensions

height: 21.90 cm, width: 13 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the The Print Room, October 1990

Inscription

Persian text above and below image, translates as: 'from among the creatures which, through the fostering of the Lord of the Universes, Exalted and High is He, attained this degree. And then this intellect which had been fostered by knowledge and wisdom was assigned to nurse the [human] souls, and the wise soul who was fostered by knowledge and science became appointed to foster the body. The intellect inscribed the light of wisdom on the credentials of all the souls on the Night of Destiny, and ordered the draft for the allowance of the Earth to be drawn on the office of the Heavens, and allocated the ration of the Earth-dwellers from the treasure-house of the Heavens, and just as the obedience of the dust-settlers ascends to the Heavens so the bounty of the Heavens descends to the Earth.'

GAC number

16752