Large calligraphic exercise "Siyah Mashq", probably by Gholam Reza (active 1260-1303 AH / 1844-1886), Iran qâjâr, c. 1860-70Black ink on marbled paper, laid out diagonally, within blue margins. 32 x 22 cmFrame . Attached is a calligraphy in shikasteh script, signed Sayyid Muhammad Da'ud al-Hussaini, Afghanistan, ca. 1910-15. The name Ghulam that appears at the bottom left of the page would suggest that it is the signature of the calligrapher Gholam Reza (active 1844-86), one of the best-known 19th-century Iranian calligraphers. In addition to many pages of calligraphy, he executed the inscriptions of the Sepahsalar Mosque in Tehran. For information on his work, see Mehdi Bayani, Ahval va athar e khoshnevisan, Tehran, 1984, pp.550-56. A Large Siyah Mashq Calligraphic Exercise attributable to Gholam Reza (act. 1844-86), Qajar Iran, circa 1860-70Provenance : Marie-Christine David Collection .