Erotic illustration of a poem by Sa‘Di Shirazi (D. 1292 CE), Shiraz, Persia, Second Half of the 16th Century, 26.2 x 17 cm. Kent Antiques at TEFAF 2024. © 2024 TEFAF

Ink and opaque pigments heightened with gold, depicting lovers including a figure in a distinctive black hat, in various coupling positions in a brightly coloured and patterned tile interior, with two lines of Persian poetry in nasta'liq script above and below within cloud bands on a gold ground, and diagonal line of the same above and below, outer border decorated in gold with animals on a floral ground.

Provenance: Estate of costume designer Anthony Powell (1935-2021)