A scrapbook compiled between 1660 and 1687 by Gesina ter Borch (1631–1690), a female artist from the small town of Zwolle in the Netherlands, contains an intriguing painting on paper of a full-length portrait of a young Iranian. Although the figure wears the attributes in vogue at the Safavid court of Isfahan, certain elements seem rather incongruous and peculiar. The general composition appears static and rigid, an impression reinforced by an unusual black painted background. Stylistic differences within the painting were also observed, hinting at alterations to the original painting. To investigate the history of the painting and to reconstruct the original composition and identify the later additions, perhaps made by Gesina herself, the painting was examined with different imaging and analytic techniques available at the Conservation and Science Department of the Rijksmuseum. This allowed the research team to discriminate between pigments used for the original composition and pigments used to conceal damaged areas of the painting and added pictorial elements. After interpreting scientific results, as well as historical findings, it was possible to shed light on the use of specific pigments, namely lead white and smalt, and on the possible misinterpretation of some details, such as the cup held by the young man. The results of macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) and lead isotope analysis, viewed in the light of information about the economic and cultural exchanges between Iran and the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, fed new theories about the origin and history of this painting. The painting, originally made in Iran in the style of Riza Abbasi, the head of the Emperor Shah Abbas’ library, ended up in Gesina ter Borch's workshop and may have been ‘restored’ by the artist to improve its condition and to match her tastes.
A pilgrimage scroll (ziyārātnāma) dated 1433 in the name of Sayyid Yusuf b. Sayyid Shihab al-Din Ma Waraʾ al-Nahri records an ʿumra to Mecca and visits (ziyārāt) to Medina, Jerusalem, Hebron, Najaf, and Karbala. This document reflects a common phenomenon in the central Islamic lands of the post-Mongol and pre-Safavid period, namely, the non-sectarian veneration of the family of the Prophet Muhammad, and its narrative provides unusually rich details about the pilgrim’s objectives in commissioning it. Given the rarity of this document and the lack of any scholarly study of it, two art historians and one conservation scientist here present an in-depth analysis of its materials, techniques of production, format, form, topographic representations, and calligraphy. The scroll is also considered vis-à-vis comparative materials, which are admittedly scant in number.
Through the study of the materiality of three works from collections in Doha, Paris and Amsterdam, this paper intends to fill a gap in the knowledge of découpage calligraphy in Iran and shed light on its production processes. First, the origins and the context of the art will be explored through ancient and modern sources, followed by an examination of the tools used and the techniques of production, and finally an insight into the purpose or la raison d’être of the découpage technique will be presented.
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