Bookbinding (Jild-i kitab)

Bookbinding

Most people think of Persian lacquerware as small, richly painted and varnished objects, such as pen boxes, mirror cases, and caskets, but the earliest, most common form of the craft is the bookbinding. The first examples, dating to the fifteenth century, follow a distinct format that served as a model for those produced in the following centuries. Often rectangular in shape, these feature a central medallion (sometimes with pendants) that extends from the top to the bottom over a field of scrolling vegetation, with quarter medallions at the four corners. Many are framed by a poetic inscription, a Qur’anic verse, or a prayer.

The present example loosely follows the classical format. Its central medallion and corner paisleys are painted over a gold ground of scrolling vegetation in two registers executed in shades of gold. The painter has taken the liberty of altering the shapes of the classical medallions and adding a few innovative touches such as the contrast of midnight blue against the gold ground. The entire composition is framed by a border with cartouches enclosing segments of a love poem (ghazal) by the celebrated thirteenth-century Persian poet Sa‘di that praises the unrivaled beauty of the beloved.[1] The style of illumination echoes that found in manuscripts (tazhib). It is possible that the illuminated designs of the binding corresponded to those of the text block it once enclosed. In the same vein, the lyrical verses on the binding may point to the contents of the now lost text block, which may have been a poetry anthology.

Maryam Ekhtiar in [Higgins Harvey 2021]

Footnotes:

1. The Persian poetry on the bookbinding may be translated as follows: "God has created such beauty from nothing. / You are like the Sun and a tall cypress tree that has no match in this world. / No one can describe you or write about you. / You are beautiful like the peacock, limb upon limb. / You are sweet as sugarcane, from head to toe. / Please see me and then start blaming. / Be gentle if you wish as kings are with their subjects." Translation by Roshanak Keyghobadi.

Inscription: A Persian love poem or ghazal by the 13th century Persian poet, Sa'di written in elegant thuluth, in blue cartouches with white lettering around the outside edges of both sides of the cover:

O beloved, thousands of praises
For your soul, from head to foot;
The artist, God..., existence
He brought forth from non-existence

A sun on a walking cypress
Has never been seen in the world;
It does not come into description and explanation;
Your name does not fit into the pen.

I said: "Perhaps you are a peacock,
Limb upon limb like feathers."
(page 2):
I see you as sugarcane,
Sweetness from head to foot.

For a moment open your glance,
Be as coquettish as you want,
And then begin with (?)
Like kings on my cheek.

(Translation by Annemarie Schimmel, 9/85)
The last four lines are repeated to fill the space. the word atab in the penultimate line makes no sens, and similar looking words do not either.

The form is popular: abab xxxb yyyb, as in folksongs, and the meter is likewise very simple. (Annemarie Schimmel, 9/85)

سعدی » دیوان اشعار » غزلیات

جانا هزاران آفرین بر جانت از سر تا قدم
صانع خدایی کاین وجود آورد بیرون از عدم
خورشید بر سرو روان دیگر ندیدم در جهان
وصفت نگنجد در بیان نامت نیاید در قلم
گفتم چو طاووسی مگر عضوی ز عضوی خوبتر
می‌بینمت چون نیشکر شیرینی از سر تا قدم
چندان که می‌بینم جفا امید می‌دارم وفا
چشمانت می‌گویند لا ابروت می‌گوید نعم
آخر نگاهی بازکن وانگه عتاب آغاز کن
چندان که خواهی ناز کن چون پادشاهان بر خدم
چون دل ببردی دین مبر هوش از من مسکین مبر
با مهربانان کین مبر لاتقتلوا صید الحرم
خار است و گل در بوستان هرچ او کند نیکوست آن
سهل است پیش دوستان از دوستان بردن ستم
او رفت و جان می‌پرورد این جامه بر خود می‌درد
سلطان که خوابش می‌برد از پاسبانانش چه غم
می‌زد به شمشیر جفا می‌رفت و می‌گفت از قفا
سعدی بنالیدی ز ما مردان ننالند از الم
 
Ghazal number 352

On the front and back covers and in the margins, there are twenty rhyming verses of a ghazal by the 13th century Persian poet Sa’di --this is ghazal number 352. The verses are inscribed in thuluth script in white on a black background and enclosed cartouches.

جانا هزاران آفرین بر جانت از سر تا قدم
صانع خدایی کاین وجود آورد بیرون از عدم

My beloved, I praise your soul thousand times from head to toe
God has created such beauty from nothing

خورشید بر سرو روان دیگر ندیدم در جهان
وصفت نگنجد در بیان نامت نیاید در قلم

You are like the Sun and a tall cypress that has no match in this world
No one can describe you nor write about you

گفتم چو طاووسی مگر عضوی ز عضوی خوبتر
می‌بینمت چون نیشکر شیرینی از سر تا قدم

You are beautiful like a peacock, limb upon limb
You are sweet like sugarcane, from head to toe

آخر نگاهی بازکن وانگه عتاب آغاز کن
چندان که خواهی ناز کن چون پادشاهان بر خدم

Please see me and then start blaming
Be gentle if you wish like kings are with their subjects

(Translation transcription and translation by Roshanak Keyghobadi, 12/4/2019)

Marking: - Sticker on interior in pen: Moore / 1891
- Sticker on interior in pen: No. / 11

Edward C. Moore (American), New York (until d. 1891; bequeathed to MMA)

Beyazit, Deniz, Maryam Ekhtiar, and Sheila R. Canby. Collecting Inspiration : Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co., edited by Medill Higgins Harvey. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021. no. 138, p. 203, ill.