Manuscript of the Nigaristan of Ahmad Ghaffari - Exterior binding
Manuscript of the Nigaristan of Ahmad Ghaffari
Exterior binding
Iran, Shiraz (?), second half of the 16th century
Opaque watercolour and gold on pasteboard, covered in varnish
AKM272
The experience of an illustrated manuscript begins with the closed book itself. Manuscript bindings — usually textured tooled leather or painted pasteboard covered in smooth varnish — were designed to entice readers’ visual and tactile senses. This manuscript features an outstanding varnished (“lacquer”) binding. Decorated with hunters, hawkers, musicians, and animals in a gilded, jewel-toned landscape, it foregrounds the theme of razm o bazm (“feats and feasting”), the ultimate princely privilege in Persian culture. Its vibrant details are set against a black background, suggesting a world that exists outside of time. Together, these features would have primed the reader for immersion into the stories illustrated inside.