The Lioness, Central Asia. Inscription dated the sixth month of guimao corresponding to 1483. Ink and pigment on paper, 242 x 287 cm (95.3 x 113 in.). With an imperial inscription by the Chenghua Emperor on silk, one imperial seal Guangyun zhibao. Rossi & Rossi © TEFAF

A pre-1483 Central Asian Sino-Islamic painting presented as tribute by the Sultan of Samarkand to the then Emperor of Ming China.

Provenance: Private collection, London; C. Boisgirard et al, Paris, April 1977; Essayan collection, Paris; By descent to the previous owner's sister; Gulbenkian collection, France, 1920s; Séquestre Worch, André Portier, 26-29th March 1922, lot 420

Literature: William Watson, Islamic Art I, Chinese Style in the Paintings of the Istanbul Albums, London 1981, p. 76 

Rossi & Rossi (Stand 162) at at TEFAF Maastricht, March 10-18, 2018