Boy with Cockerel, by Mu`īn Muṣavvir

Mu`in Musavvir

Boy with Cockerel, by Mu`īn Muṣavvir. A boy stoops slightly as if he is about to release the large cockerel to the ground — this may be a fighting cock about to do battle. The artist has written a note on the lower left, dedicating his drawing to his son Aqa Zaman, “drawn in haste”. He often signed (and dated) his work in this way, writing directly onto the drawing, and drawing attention to the immediate moment of making the image. Folio, ink and colours on paper, mounted on grey card, (on recto:) tinted drawing of a boy carrying a large cockerel (possibly a fighting cock), signed by Mu`īn Muṣavvir, mounted in light pink paper frame, (on verso:) blank, on grey album page, Isfahan, Iran, dated 15 Dhu’l-Hijja 1066H, 4 October 1656.