Calligraphic exercises and verses of Hafiz (Persian, about 1325–1389) (verso)

This fine calligraphic work is signed and dated by a calligrapher who was highly regarded in both Safavid Iran and Mughal India. Mughal albums typically had a painted portrait or figural scene on one side, and a work of calligraphy on the other. The British civil servant Sir Charles Forbes made his album following that format. The verses are a lament over a lack of wine, beginning: For some days now the Daughter of the Vine has been lost to us, Gone away to tend to her own affairs. Be alert and prepared as a search party. Her dress is of rubies, and she wears a tiara of delicate glass.