Description:

AN ILLUMINATED ALBUM PAGE, LUCKNOW, INDIA, 19TH CENTURY

An illuminated album page in thuluth/ta'liq script with a proverb and an invocation to a ruler

Arabic manuscript on paper laid down on card, text written within a cloudband decorated with intertwining vegetal and floral motifs on a gold ground,

127 x 225 mm.

Footnotes
The proverb translates as: 'Learning consists of two sciences: the science of the body and the science of the [soul?]'.

Provenance: Bonhams lot 24, Islamic and Indian Art 09/06/14

 

This calligraphic panel is a refined product of Lucknow’s 19th-century artistic milieu, where Persianate traditions flourished under Nawabi patronage. The exquisite combination of gold illumination and classical scripts was typical of royal commissions or high-end manuscript albums created for elites and literati.

Comparable examples:

  • This illuminated calligraphic panel from Lucknow, featuring gold-ground cloudbands and floral motifs was sold at Bonhams, London, Islamic and Indian Art, 9 June 2014, Lot 24, for £3,000.

  • Another Indian illuminated calligraphy page, late 18th to early 19th century, in thuluth script on gold, sold at Sotheby’s, London, Arts of the Islamic World, 25 October 2017, Lot 90, for £4,750.

  • A comparable calligraphic panel with gold ground and floral decoration, likely from North India, sold at Christie’s, London, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 26 April 2018, Lot 203, for £3,500.

Note:
This piece exemplifies the high aesthetic standards of North Indian calligraphic practice, with its interplay of poetic content, sophisticated script, and luxurious illumination. The proverb—"Learning consists of two sciences: the science of the body and the science of the soul"—is a deeply philosophical reflection, making this not only a work of visual art but also of contemplative thought.

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May 6, 2025 1:00 PM BST
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