Three religious calligraphies in Arabic, Iran zand and qâjâr, signed and dated Calligraphies on paper in Arabic with black ink in cloud reserves on a gold background, mounted as album pages on card stock with polychrome borders and margins. The first is Qur'anic (Qur'an, XII, 56-60), with seven lines of naskhi text, the verses separated by gold-illuminated rosettes, the last line completed with the name of calligrapher Muhammad Hashem Esfahani, and the date 1194 H/1779 ; the second, a calligraphic exercise in siyah mashq, consisting of a wide upper band inscribed in thuluth with an extract from a hadith, surmounted by a composition of oblique lines, mostly inscribed in muhaqqaq, right side up and upside down. The last three lines in thuluth give the name of calligrapher Riza Abul Qassem al-Shirazi and the date 1245 H/1829. A few terms inscribed in red ink, including a line of Persian nasta'liq and again the date 1245 H, complete the composition; the third, a religious invocation of seven lines of text in naskhi, the last line giving the name of calligrapher Seyed Ali Moussavi and the date 1233 H/1817. Calligraphy size: 19.5 x 13.5 cm; 15 x 22.8 cm; 14 x 9.2 cm; total size: 28.1 x 19 cm; 29.7 x 18.8 cm and 23.7 x 17.7 cm Slight damage, wear, stains and chips. Muhammad Hashem Esfahani was the son of poet and calligrapher Muhammad Saleh Loloi Esfahani. He was a master calligrapher of the naskhi script. Three Religious Calligraphies in Arabic, Zand and Qajar Iran, signed and dated Collection of M. A. Z. - 1960 to 1980 (by descent) - lots 238 to 252