A Double-Sided Illuminated Leaf: Birds Flying around a Tree, Persia or India, 17th Century

Sotheby's, London, 18 October 2001, lot 60;

Sotheby's, London, 3 October 2012, lot 103;

Sotheby's, London, 25 October 2017, Lot 71;

Where acquired by the present collector.

The present work displays a highly unusual design reserved against a coloured ground, rather than painted in colours on a plain background. This technique creates a rich and visually striking effect that allows the intricate vegetal decoration to emerge with remarkable clarity and vibrancy. 

While the individual motif recalls contemporary Persian decorative styles, including Safavid tiles and manuscript border illustrations, the work may also have been produced in India. Its luxuriant floral repertoire finds close parallels in Mughal and Deccani textiles, carpets, album borders, and floral studies of the early seventeenth century.

For related works see the following: Leach 1998, no.67; Zebrowski 1983, co.pl.XII, figs.87 and 101; Canby 1998, no.116; Topsfield and Beach 1991, no.8 and Walker 1997, figs.31, 33, 34, 92 and 98. An almost identical sister leaf, presumably the facing page to the present illustration in the original manuscript, was sold in these rooms 18 October 2001, lot 60.