Lady with a Mirror

1618 or 1627

Reza 'Abbasi Iranian, ca. 1565 - 1635

Not On View

Lady with a Mirror: 1 of Collection Gallery

Lady with a Mirror: 2 of Collection Gallery

Lady with a Mirror: 3 of Collection Gallery

Lady with a Mirror: 4 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Lady with a Mirror

Artwork Date 1618 or 1627

Artist Reza 'Abbasi

Life Dates ca. 1565 - 1635

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Iranian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Dimensions Image: 9 1/2 × 4 3/4 inches (24.1 × 12.1 cm) Overall (with border): 12 1/4 × 8 inches (31.1 × 20.3 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department Islamic Art

Credit Gift of Mrs. Edsel B. Ford

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 44.274

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, in Nasta'liq, in two cartouches above image, verses by an unknown poet: [translated by Shadi Shafiei: Those beauties who are tall slim with tulip-shaped faces, / What is the mystery behind the fact that they are kind to others but unkind to us?] [transliterated: Ᾱn delbarân ki laleh ‘uzar o sahi qadanad / Serr chist ki bâ hameh nik o be mâ badand] Signed, at lower left: [translated by Shadi Shafiei: On the day of Tuesday 12th of the month Rabi‘ al-Akhar in the year of 1027 {April 8, 1618} / Was completed. / Painted by (or signed by, or made by) the humble Reza Abbasi.] {Alternate reading of date: 12 Rabi' II 1037, equivalent to December 20, 1627} [transliterated: Dar rouz-i seh shanbeh davâzdahom-i shahr-i Rabi‘ al-Ᾱkhar sana-yi 1027 {/1037} / Bi itmâm risid / Raqam-i kamineh Reza Abbasi]

Provenance

Eleanor Clay Ford [Mrs. Edsel B. Ford] [1896-1976];
1944-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Kuhnel. Persian Survey, vol. III, p. 1886; vol. V, pl. 918A (ill.).

Weibel, Adele C. "A Riza-i-Abbasi Silk," Bulletin of the DIA 22, no. 1 (1942): pp. 3-7.

Arts of Persia and Mohammendan India. Exh. cat., Pasadena Art Institute. Pasadena, California, September 1949.

The Arts of Persia. Exh. cat., Lyman Allyn Museum. New London, CT.

Bulletin of the DIA 38, no. 2 (1958-59): pp. 27-29 (ill).

Villard, Monneret De. L'Arte Iranica. Italy, 1954, (ill.) p. 183, no. 84.

DIA Handbook. 1966, p. 57.

Canby, Sheila R. The Rebellious Reformer: The Drawings and Paintings of Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan. London, 1996, cat. no. 124, p. 166 (ill.), pp. 165-173 [see text entry for more information].

Diez, Ernst. "Iranische Kunst," Wien (1944): Abb. 90, p. 157 (ill.), pp. 148, 150 [see text entry for more information].

Welch, Anthony. "Wordly and Otherwordly Love in Safavi Painting." In Persian Painting from the Mongols to the Qajars, ed. Robert Hillenbrand. London/New York, 2000, p. 303, 312, pl. 14 (ill.) [see text entry for more information].

Chagnon, Micheal. "Reżā ‘Abbāsī and the Embedded Image." Bulletin of the DIA 98, no. 1 (2024): p. 24 (fig. 1).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Reza 'Abbasi, Lady with a Mirror, 1618 or 1627, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mrs. Edsel B. Ford, 44.274.