Overview

The Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries hosts a spectacular collection from Albertus Paulus Hermanus Hotz (1855-1930), a Dutch businessman who traded with Persia between 1874 and 1903 via his company in Rotterdam. Throughout his travels, Hotz amassed extensive collections of artworks, books, and archival materials. Portions of his collection were donated to the Leiden University Library by his family in 1935 and 1994. The latter donation included a substantial collection of 247 paintings on paper, which is the subject of this book. These paintings offer an exceptional panorama of Persian life during the Qajar period (1789-1925), encompassing ceremonies, entertainment, professions, the legal system and medical care. This book is the first to provide an in-depth study and comprehensive catalogue of this collection. It thus provides valuable insights for the researchers, particularly art historians and art connoisseurs of Persian paintings, as well as for historians of Dutch-Persian relations.

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9789087285074

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Dr Forough Sajadi is an art historian and cataloguer, specializing in Persian and Indian miniature painting. She is currently carrying out a project entitled Indian Art Aficionado: Unveiling the Collections of Peter Formijne (1899–1995) at the Rijksmuseum. Previously, in 2023, she worked as a  Scaliger Fellow, in the Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries, performing her research that would lead to the production of the present book. Dr Sajadi received her Ph.D. degree in Humanities in Arts Studies from the University of Warsaw in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, she undertook the research project ""Islamic Manuscripts in Dutch Museums, Public and Private Collections"". Prior to that, during 2018-2019, she worked as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Rijksmuseum, conducting her PhD research. Her research has resulted in numerous publications, including her recent book The Persian Miniatures Collection of the Rijksmuseum, A Hidden Treasure Trove (Brill: 2025). She is also the co-author of Khorshid Khanom: A Study in the Origin and Development of the Shir-o Khorshid Motif (Mage Publishers: 2024).

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