Persian Miniature Painting: Hats and Stringed Instruments

We see a variety of stinged instruments in Persian Art. My thought is that styles and types of instruments can give us clues that we can use in attribution. I have been compareing a wide range of sources for names of types of instuments. I will atempt to name the various ones we see and then as this project goes forward I will refine it.

	To the right we see what appears to be a Cura. These are the smallest of the Saz type of Lute. These are a three is a three stringed instument with a small sound box. The back Signed by Abdollah-e Mozahheb from the Sifat al-ashqin1
	Detail: Youth and Old Age  Tabriz circa 1530 Here we see what appears to be a Baglama which is the medium size of Saz. Click here to listen to the sound of the Baglama (.WAV file ~210Kb) WAV file courtesy of Dio Dino's Custom Handcrafted Musical Instruments
	Detail "A party at the Court of Sultan Mirza. 2. Deep-bodied waisted lute with a long neck, most popular classical instrument of Iran (tar); 0:29 Tar solo in dastgah Mahur, Teheran, Iran, 1975, played by Hussein Ali Zodeh.
	Kemane Spike Fiddle Spike Fiddle from Central Asia.

Related work

• A City Dweller Desecrates a Garden
• A Comparison of Figural Representation
• Pruning Scars as a Tool in Attribution
• Painter D as Abdol-Aziz?
• Hats and Stringed Instruments
• On Tying a Turban
• Abdullah at the court in Kabul?
• Decorative Gold Bands in the Haft Awrang of Jami

1. Soudavar, Abolala. Art of the Persian Court. New York: Rizzoli, 1992, pages 230, plate 90a.
2. Simpson, Marianna Shreve, and Farhad, Massumeh. Sultan Ibrahim Mirza's Haft Awrang, A Princely Manuscript from Sixteenth-Century Iran.  Page 165 - 167 detail  Folio 179B
3. Lowery, Glenn D. and Lentz, Glenn D. Timur and the Princely Vision. Page 286.
4. Bahari, Ebadollah. Bihzad Master of Persian Painting. London UK.: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 1996. Plate 10.
5. Bahari, Ebadollah. Bihzad Master of Persian Painting. London UK.: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 1996. Pages 32 and 33.

Some links to information on Musical Instruments:

• http://news.lilchips.com/roland/expansion/srjv80/srjv8005g.asp
• http://www.silverbushmusic.com/Mideaststrings.html
• http://www.larkinam.com/MenComNet/Business/Retail/Larknet/ArtIntroOud
• http://www.larkinam.com/MenComNet/Business/Retail/Larknet/ArtIntroSaz
• http://www.silverbushmusic.com/Mideaststrings.html

For Further Reading:

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

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