Description:

DRAGON CHASING PHOENIX IN THE SKY, SAFAVID, 17TH CENTURY
Persia, 17th century

Description:
Ink and wash on paper; a dramatic and fluid depiction of a sinuous dragon in pursuit of a phoenix among swirling clouds and windswept skies. The mythical beasts are elegantly rendered in expressive brushwork, with the dragon’s elongated form curling dynamically through the composition. The phoenix, shown mid-flight with feathered wings extended, turns its head back in a moment of poetic tension. The scene is framed by a series of illuminated cartouches in nasta‘liq script interspersed with blocks of green and red decoration. A finely ruled and speckled pink outer border completes the folio.

Dimensions:
33.5 x 24.5cm

Comparable examples:

  • Sotheby’s, London, Arts of the Islamic World, 25 October 2017, Lot 83, Safavid ink drawing of a dragon and phoenix, £8,750 

  • Bonhams, London, Islamic and Indian Art, 30 March 2021, Lot 58, Persian mythological study with clouds and beasts, £7,020 

  • Christie’s, London, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 27 April 2023, Lot 117, ink drawing of dragon motif, Isfahan school, £9,450 

Note:
The pairing of dragon and phoenix is a powerful East Asian and Persianate symbol of cosmic balance—representing opposing yet complementary forces such as chaos and order, male and female, or heaven and earth. This theme, though rarer in Persian art than in Chinese, reflects cross-cultural artistic exchanges and the Safavid fascination with mythological synthesis. Such drawings were highly valued for their symbolic richness and calligraphic artistry.

 

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May 6, 2025 1:00 PM BST
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