Qajar Persian Manuscript Leaf — Cavalry Battle with War Elephant, 19th C.

A framed Persian manuscript folio combining an illustrated miniature with a Nastaliq script header panel. The painting depicts a cavalry battle in the Persianate tradition: mounted archers drawing bows, lance-bearing riders, a trumpeter sounding a long horn, and a war elephant bearing a red marbled howdah at center. The composition uses stock Qajar elements — a single cypress, rolling ochre hills against a gilded sky band, and a white ground scattered with floral rosettes. The figures and flatly rendered horses are consistent with later Qajar workshop production rather than Safavid-period refinement.

The header carries a two-hemistich lament couplet in Persian: "No avenger's blade was the cause of my ruin; / My destiny was severe, decreed by the relentless stars." The fatalistic tone and martial imagery are consistent with Persian classical epic, though the specific source text is not confirmed. Notably, the reverse of the frame holds a second, separate manuscript leaf — densely written two-column Nastaliq poetry closing with the scribal marker kātib ("the scribe"), mounted face-in by the framer. The piece carries a Los Angeles framing label (Michael's Custom Framing, N. Robertson Blvd.), placing it in a Southern California collection consistent with mid-20th-century Persian diaspora collecting.

CONDITION

Fair with age-appropriate wear throughout. The gilt-and-silk frame shows wear to the fabric and chips to the molding; the paper backing is torn. Light foxing and scattered spotting to the margins of the illustrated leaf. Pigments remain bright and the gilded sky band is intact.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall (framed): 17 1/2" × 13 1/2"
• Visible (image): 10" × 5 1/2"
• Medium: Gouache and gold on paper
• Script: Persian Nastaliq
• Frame: Giltwood with blue-green silk liner
• Framing label: Michael's Custom Framing, N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA