برگی از یک مرقع، شیوه محمد سیاه قلم، سده 15 ترسایی، احتمالاً تبریز، مرکب بر روی کاغذ Album page in the Style of ‘Mohammad Siyah Qalam’ probably Tabriz, Iran late 15th century ink, wash, gold and opaque watercolour on coarse paper panels of text on recto written in nasta‘liq 39 x 24.5cm The study, of a demon dragging a man and dangling an ox by the tail, belongs to an important group of paintings, which are mainly in an album in the Topkapı Palace Library in Istanbul. These paintings mostly bear later attributions to ‘Mohammad Siyah Qalam’ although they are by several hands. Rather than identifying the artist, the name alludes to the Persian technique of siyahqalami (or qalamsiyahi): black line drawing on paper, sometimes enhanced by wash. The subjects, all on a bare ground, include studies of wrinkled figures in heavy garments, dark-skinned figures and demons. All have been cut down to fit on the album pages; some appear to have been quite large compositions, and some at least were originally in scroll form.