Dragon in Foliage (drawing, recto); calligraphy, (verso)

This album folio has on its recto side a slightly tinted black-ink drawing of a dragon charging forward through dense foliage. It is an accomplished example of the so-called Ottoman saz style, distinguished by three-dimensional serrated leaves, intertwining branches, and mythical creatures. The extraordinary quality of the draftsmanship on this drawing is especially visible in details such as the claw of the dragon snapping a branch into two. The saz style was developed at the Ottoman imperial studio in the first half of the 16th century especially under the leadership of the émigré Persian artist Shahquli, who worked from 1526 to 1556 at the Ottoman court. The saz style permeated diverse media including ceramics, paintings, and textiles. The drawing has two inscriptions in nastaliq script and appears to be by the same hand: one near the foreleg of the dragon providing the name of an artist (Mir Sayyid Muhammad Naqqash); the other at the top between two branches (made by the humble servant at the court of heavenly resort of his Excellency, Khan Ahmad al-Husayni). The latter one is written upside down and the second line is placed above the first. In the same inscription the lower loop of letter lam in the word ‘amel’ crosses over the ruling lines around the drawing, which suggests the inscription is not contemporary with the drawing itself but was added after the drawing was mounted as an album page. The verso side of the album folio has an illuminated calligraphy, a poem dedicated to the famous Persian poet Jami (d. 1492) copied by the scribe Ali al-Katib.