Lacquer Covers of the Davis Album

Title: Lacquer Covers of the Davis Album

Date: dated 1217 AH/ 1802–3 CE

Geography: Attributed to Iran, probably Isfahan

Medium: Papier-maché; painted in opaque watercolor and gold, and lacquered

Dimensions: H. 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm)
W. 8 1/4 in. (21cm)

Classification: Codices

Credit Line: Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915

Accession Number: 30.95.174.1a, b

Book Cover

While painted and lacquered papier-maché book covers have survived from as early as the fifteenth century, examples dating from before the eighteenth century are rare. During the Zand (1750–94) and Qajar (1779–1924) dynasties, the art greatly expanded, and in spite of the fragility of the medium, a number of superb examples still exist. Some of the most appealing have a design of naturalistic flower sprays, minutely observed and painted with a combination of sensitivity and vigor. While the change in taste has led to a greater realism, the traditional nature of Persian art has enabled the retention of corner spandrels defining the area of the field: the design of the spandrels, with their minute gold blossoms on a dark green ground, appears archaic when contrasted to the natural coloring of the flowers in the center.

The inscription ya Sahib al-Zaman ("O Lord of the World") is usually associated with a seventeenth century artist called Muhammad Zaman, but the identity of the artist in this case is not clear. The cover bound an album of Mughal Indian paintings, two of which, MMA 30.95.174.27 and .29, are in this exhibition.

Marie Lukens Swietochowski in [Berlin 1981]

Inscription: - The inscription in Persian reads "ya Sahib al-Zaman," the epiteth of the twelfth imam meaning "O Lord of the World" or "O Lord of Time."

- O Sahib az Zaman A.H. 1217 (A.D. 1802–3). This is a pious exclamation "O Lord of Age", a title given by the Shi'a sect to the Imam Mahdi, the last Imam, now concealed on the earth
(Hannah McAllister, 1943)

Theodore M. Davis, New York (by 1914–d. 1915; bequeathed to MMA)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of the Art of India from The Museum's Collections," January 18–May 31, 1973, no catalogue.

New York. Leubsdorf Gallery at Hunter College. "Re-Orientations: Islamic Art and the West in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," February 7, 2008–April 26, 2008, no catalogue.

"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 91, pp. 220–21, ill. p. 221 (b/w).

Petrosyan, Yuri A., Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Stefano Carboni, Oleg F. Akimushkin, Anas B. Khalidov, and Efim A. Rezvan. "Islamic Paintings and Calligraphy from the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg." In Pages of Perfection. Lugano, Switzerland: Arch Foundation, 1995. pp. 101–2.

Bates, Ülkü. Re-Orientations: Islamic Art and the West in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. New York, 2008. no. 5, pp. 43–45, ill.