Seated Dervish

ca. 1650

Reza 'Abbasi Iranian, ca. 1565 - 1635

Not On View

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance page
Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

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.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.

About the Artwork

Title Seated Dervish

Artwork Date ca. 1650

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. Unknown

Medium Drawing: ink on paper margins: ink, colors, and gold on paper

Dimensions Overall: 9 1/8 × 6 1/4 inches (23.2 × 15.9 cm)

Classification Manuscripts

Department Islamic Art

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund

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. 1994.91

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, on top and bottom, manaqib (laudatory verses) in praise of Imam Ali: [translated by Shadi Shafiei: O the observant one, and a confidant of the prophet of Allah [Mohammad] / A companion of the king of all messengers [Muhammad] when he reached to the closest stage to Allah. / We cannot begin to speak without praising Ali / Ahli, in the path to seeking Moulâ [Ali], you yourself became dutiful. God be with you! O God, for the sake of his excellence that is reflected on all beings, / Forgive my sins, once these verses are completed.] [transliterated: Ey az hameh hâl âgah hamrâz-i nabi allâh / Ba shâh-e rusul hamarah dar manzel-i u adnâ / Bi madh-i Ali aslan nagreft sukhan bâlâ / Ahli to pe-yi moulâ, ahlaneh shodi ahlâ / Ya rab bi kamâl-i vay kafroukht az u har shey‘ / Kin nâmeh cho gardad tey jurmam bi karam bakhshâ] Inscribed, in cartouches framing the central drawing, verses from Guy o Chowgan (Ball and Polo Stick) or Halnama (Book of Ecstasy) composed in (1438/39 AD) by Arifi Heravi (d. 1449): [translated by Wheeler M. Thackston and Hossein Ziai in "The Ball and Polo Stick: The Book of Ecstasy" (Mazda, 1999): Inasmuch as you can [hit] me on the head at will, / You Possess this rank through the king’s hand. / When the mallet heard this from the ball, / It immediately began to speak [saying,] / “O you who are afflicted by fate as I, / a thousand like me [revolve] around your head. / Because of you my head is raised to the sky / [and] because of you my feet do not touch the ground.” / At the apogee of this new moon / Which received rays from the orient of the soul / I made it worthy of its name in two weeks / As complete as the full moon.] [transliterated: Bar fargh-i saram ki rah dari / In payeh zi dast-i shah dari / Az guy cho in shenid chowgan / Dar hal zaban keshid chowgan / Kay khasteh-yi rouzgar chon man / Gard-i sar-i tu hizar chon man / Az tu sar-i man be charkh sayad / Payam zi to bar zamin nayad / Dar owj-i bulandi in mah-i no / Kaz mashriq-i jan gereft parto / Kardam bi du hafteh bahr-i namash / Hamchoun mah-i chardah tamamash.]

Provenance

(Said Motamed, Frankfurt, Germany);
1994-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

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.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

Credit Line for Reproduction

school of Reza 'Abbasi, Seated Dervish, ca. 1650, Drawing: ink on paper Margins: ink, colors, and gold on paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund, 1994.91.