Folio from a Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi (d.1020); recto: text; verso: Darab sleeping in the ruined vault
HISTORICAL PERIOD: Mongol period, Il-Khanid dynasty, ca. 1330-1340
MEDIUM: Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
DIMENSIONS: H x W: 25.2 x 20.4 cm (9 15/16 x 8 1/16 in)
GEOGRAPHY: Iran, Tabriz
CREDIT LINE: Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
ACCESSION NUMBER: F1930.78

PROVENANCE
To 1910: Otto Burchard & Co., Inc. (C. Edward Wells), to 1930 [1]
From 1930: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Otto Burchard & Co., Inc. in 1930 [2]
Notes:
[1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.
[2] See note 1.

PREVIOUS OWNERS
Otto Burchard & Co., Inc.

DESCRIPTION
Detached folio from a dispersed copy of Shahnama (Book of kings) by Firdawsi; text: Persian in black naskh script; recto: text, 6 columns, 31 lines; verso: illustration and text, Darab sleeping in the ruined vault, 6 columns, 31 lines; one of a group of 16 folios.

LABEL
Darab, Shah Bahman's son, was cast away in an ark by his mother, Humay, so that she could retain power after Bahman's death. He was raised unaware of his father's royalty by foster parents. One day, while fighting a battle, Darab took refuge in a vault. As Rashnavad, who was leading Humay's army, passed by the vault, a voice cried out that the boy sleeping in the vault was Bahman's son and legitimate heir to his throne.
Source: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC, F1938.78

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Washington, D.C., Freer Gallery of Art
Title of Work: Shahnama (Great Mongol)
Manuscript: Great Mongol
Accession Number: F1938.78
Chapter 17 - Humay (32 years)
Scene: Rashnavad finds Darab asleep by a ruined castle
Dimensions (h x w): 250 x 200 mm
Format: Rectangular within borders
Reconstructed Folio: Brian 26
Gregorian Date: 1335 (circa)
School: Tabriz
Source: Shahnama Project