A prince in a pavilion by night, from an Anthology (Majmu`a) of Persian poetry.
A young prince sits holding a wine cup in a red pavilion at night, in a dark garden of flowering trees. Servants stand in attendance, offer him wine, and play music, while light is provided by a row of tall candles and by small oil lamps floating in the pool.
Folio, ink, colours and gold on paper, re-mounted in gold-painted cream borders, Persian text in nasta`liq script, with painting (on recto), from the Book of Separation (Firaq-nama) by Salman Savaji (d. 1378) composed for Jalayirid Sultan Uvays, detached from codex (Per 149), anthology dedicated to Timurid prince Abu Sa`id (r. 1452-67), decorated borders added later by order of Shaybanid ruler `Abd al-Aziz (r. 1540-1549), Herat, Afghanistan, c. 1451-1469, with borders added Bukhara, Uzbekistan, c. 1540-1549.