An early manuscript from the Indian subcontinent's golden age of erotic literature

[Lazzat Un Nisa]. Laddhat un-nisa [The Pleasure of Women].

€ 18.500,00

A beautifully illustrated early 18th century Persian manuscript of "Lazzat Un Nisa", a famous erotic text derived and translated from Sanskrit sources, likely the Koka Shastra. With fifty-four miniatures the work illustrates its famous sexual poses, but also the different types of women, the use of clothes and jewelry to heighten mutual sexual pleasure, and other methods of enjoyment, from women strolling together in a garden to women enjoying shisha alone on a palatial balcony.

There are two separate textual traditions of "Lazzat Un Nisa" in Persian, both drawing on Sanskrit sources: one earlier 15th or 17th century translation from the Indian subcontinent's Golden Age of erotic literature, and another by Muhammad Abdul Mehdune in 1850. As the binding of this text is stamped with the date 1136 Hijri (1723/4 CE), this is certainly of the earlier manuscript tradition, and while scholarship is divided on the initial date of translation, possibly a quite early example of this important and beautiful work. This manuscript's miniatures closely match those of a manuscript held in the Wellcome Collection (MS Persian 223), with only minor changes (lacking the bestiality scene, for example), suggesting a fairly strong through-line of manuscript tradition.

Illustrated erotic manuscripts such as "Lazzat Un Nisa" have a robust history in the Indian subcontinent, one which crisscrosses languages and faiths. While traditionally viewed one-dimensionally in the West as straightforward and titillating handbooks of sex, the "Lazzat Un Nisa" treats sexual gratification holistically, as part of a broad range of topics, including the rules of marriage and sexuality in the Qur'an, pregnancy, beauty, and the pleasure of both parties. The manuscript itself is very fine, with gold borders around a section of poetry and a large two-page 'unwan decorating the text, alongside the parade of brightly painted miniatures.