id:			170882
accession number:	2013.348.b
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2013.348.b
updated:		2024-03-26 02:01:36.852000

Calligraphy of Lyrical Quatrains (verso), mid-1700s. Mughal India, probably Lucknow. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; calligraphy: 17 x 9.6 cm (6 11/16 x 3 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.348.b

title:				Calligraphy of Lyrical Quatrains (verso)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			mid-1700s
creation date earliest:		1725
creation date latest:		1775
current location:		
creditline:			Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection
copyright:			

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culture:	Mughal India, probably Lucknow
technique:	Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Indian Art - Mughal
type:		Calligraphy
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: calligraphy: 17 x 9.6 cm (6 11/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	verso:  Persian verses in nasta‘liq script.
Whoever set eyes on the Opening Verses of your face recited “Say He is the Only God” and breathed it out in pure sincerity./
“God has made her grow in purity and beauty,” So recited and passed by Khizr, the moment he saw the green [pubescent] sprouting around your lips.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	verso:  Persian verses in top horizontal border, right to left, in nasta‘liq script.
My heart became shackled to her tresses;/
You have lost your head in fulfilling this desire./

Go and become entangled in her tresses./
If you see her mouth, do not say a word.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	verso:  Persian verses in bottom horizontal border, right to left, in nasta‘liq script.
If she asks you what you desire, say “your heart.”/
Since once she knows it, one could never banish her from one’s heart./

For one cannot assure one’s heart based on her words of promise;/
It is not fitting that one should lose one’s heart for naught.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	verso:  Persian verses in right vertical border, top to bottom, in nasta‘liq script:
From the anguished mood and state of this sorrowful heart,/
Narrate down the story as you brush down her tresses [conjectural]/

Of me, in an unfit state, shackled and in chains/
How I fare in that stifling prison./

If you go and seek her out in that abode/
Once you find her, you should say of me, the heartbroken.
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	verso:  Persian verses in left vertical border, bottom to top, in nasta‘liq script:
I have a heart ensnared by her tresses/
Exiled in foreign lands [. . .] of her tresses/

The tale of this broken-hearted soul, like disheveled hair/
Bring to her ears in a well-composed manner, like well-arranged hair/

Enchain her tresses in your speech/
Brush her locks behind her for a while.
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Art and Stories from Mughal India
	opening date:   2016-07-31T04:00:00
	<i>Art and Stories from Mughal India</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Sir Charles Forbes, 7th Baronet (1773-1849), Bengal, London, and Scotland, by descent to his great-grandson, Colonel Sir John Forbes
	date: ?-1849
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Colonel Sir John Stewart Forbes [1901-1984], Baronet, DSO, DL, Allargue House, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, consigned to Sotheby's London for sale
	date: ?-1962
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Sotheby's, London, Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures, lot 21)
	date: December 10, 1962
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Ralph Benkaim [1914-2001], Beverly Hills, CA, by descent to his wife Catherine Benkaim
	date: 1962-2001
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Catherine Glynn Benkaim [b. 1946], Beverly Hills, CA, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2001-2013
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2013-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Sotheby's, London. <em>Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures</em>. December 10, 1962.
	page number: 	Mentioned: Lot 21
	url:		

	Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. <em>Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. London: D Giles Limited, 2016
	page number: 	Reproduced:  cat. 85, p. 258
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.348.b/2013.348.b_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.348.b/2013.348.b_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2013.348.b/2013.348.b_full.tif