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A Palette for a Prince: The Colours in the Shahnamah for Muhammad Juki
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2022
Abstract
The Shahnamah (RAS 239) copied for the Timurid prince, Muhammad Juki (1402–1445) in Herat, has long been considered one of the finest surviving, illustrated Timurid manuscripts. It was presented to the RAS in 1834 by Lieutenant Colonel Doyle (1787–1848), but attracted little scholarly attention until Barbara Brend published her monograph in 2010. The manuscript contains 31 exquisite miniature paintings, two of which (fol. 430v and fol. 531r) were added later during the Mughal period (1526–1761). This article will examine the sumptuous, jewel-like colours employed to depict scenes from the epic and the metals, pigments, and dyes from which they were derived. Precious metals and organic colours made from plants such as indigo and lac extracted from female insects are examined in detail: the methods of their production and extraction, the techniques used for their application, their commercial value, and the prestige they afforded their patrons all contribute to an understanding of what constituted the miniature painters' palette in the Timurid period.
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 32 , Special Issue 4: Studies in Honour of Barbara Brend , October 2022 , pp. 861 - 876
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Asiatic Society
References
1 Royal Asiatic Society, Persian Ms 239. The entire manuscript has been digitised at https://royalasiaticcollections.org/ras-persian-239-shahnamah-of-firdausi-of-muhammad-juki/, (accessed 27 April 2022). The digital version available at https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-RAS-00239-00001/591 (accessed 27 April 2022) also offers a convenient platform that allows viewers to jump back and forth between individual images.
2 Brend, B., Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah of Firdausi (London, 2010), p. 1Google Scholar.
3 Ibid.
4 The flaking and powdering pigments were consolidated in 1993. Consolidation is the process of applying a dilute adhesive so as to adhere particles to each other and to the substrate. Closely monitoring the process through a microscope, the chosen adhesive—Selianski (purest grade) isinglass made from the swim-bladder of the sturgeon fish—was applied using a 000 brush.
5 All of the analysis of lac and indigo cited in this article was carried out in cooperation with Professor Maurizio Aceto, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy.
6 Brend distinguished the work of seven hands (Painters A–G): Brend, Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah, pp. 189–190.
7 For another recent identification of lac, see Beers, Kristine Rose, ‘Investigating the palette of the Ruzbihan Qur'an’, in Wright, E. J., Lapis and Gold: Exploring Chester Beatty's Ruzbihan Qur'an (London, 2018), pp. 246–263Google Scholar.
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24 In January and February 2019, I travelled to Ranchi, Jharkhand, India, to study the cultivation and processing of lac, as well as how it was brought to market. I am grateful to Dr R. Ramani, ex-director of the ICAR-Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (INRG), as well as the scientific team at the Institute. My thanks also to Miho Kitagawa of the Lac Study Group in Japan, and to Mr Singh, Nidhi Agarwal, and Penny Jewel, who made possible my visits to the tribal areas.
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29 Brend, Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah, p. 8.
30 Two miniatures were added to the manuscript in Mughal India: ‘Talhand dies during the battle against his brother’ (fol. 430v) and ‘Yazdagird hides in a mill’ (fol. 531r); see Brend, Muhammad Juki's Shahnamah, pp. 148–162 for a discussion of the manuscript's sojourn in India.
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33 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 63.210.35; available at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451730?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=mantiq+al-tayr&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=5 (accessed 27 April 2022).
34 J. Scott Meisami, ‘I guess that's why they call it the blues: depictions of Majnun in illustrated manuscripts’, in And Diverse Are Their Hues, (eds) Bloom and Blair, pp. 120–151.
35 Caley, E. R., ‘The Leyden Papyrus X: an English translation with brief notes’, Journal of Chemical Education 3.10 (1926), p. 1157CrossRefGoogle Scholar, §54: ‘Preparation of liquid gold. Soft leaves of gold: pulverise with mercury in a mortar; and employ them in writing, after the manner of black ink’, 71.
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45 Indian manuscripts almost always use tin, especially to depict water, and much else besides. For further discussion, see Porter, C., ‘The use of metals in Islamic manuscripts’, in The Making of Islamic Art. Studies in Honour of Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, (ed.) Hillenbrand, R. (Edinburgh, 2021) pp. 160–179Google Scholar.