Safavid manuscript folio, Iran, 16th century Manuscript folio on paper inscribed with eight lines of Persian nasta'liq in black ink in shaded reserves on a gold ground, four of them obliquely in a cartouche. Folio introduced by the Bismillah in Arabic in an unwân cartouche, the other lines taken from a Shi'ite text containing sayings by Imam 'Ali. Folio richly illuminated in gold and polychrome with floral motifs arranged in foliate scrolls decorating cartouches, spandrels and mantling. Mounted as a later album page on a pink cardboard sheet with a series of painted floral borders. Dim. folio: 15.7 x 8.5 cm; dim. overall: 30 x 19.6 cm A few stains, thin consolidated tear, small repaints. Two illuminated verses, Iran, probably 17th century, two verses in Persian nasta'liq inscribed in black ink in reserves on a gold background. In framed cartouches mounted as album pages. This is thought to be a poem addressed to Shah Abbas I the Great. Dim. 5.8 x 8.6 and 5.6 x 8.5 cm total dim. 11.4 x 15.6 and 11.4 x 15.8 cm; folds, wear, stains. A Folio of a Safavid Manuscript, Iran, 16th Century Collection of M. A. Z. - 1960 to 1980 (by descent) - lots 238 to 252