QAJAR IRAN, 19TH CENTURY

Details

PORTRAIT OF NASIR AL-DIN SHAH QAJAR
QAJAR IRAN, 19TH CENTURY
Gouache on paper, Nasir al-Din Shah stands on a blue floral carpet before a green awning with sword in hand and other hand resting on hip, wearing elaborate gold embroidered blue coat, jewelled belt and hat, Qajar medals, and cloak with boteh motif, laid down between a card margin on polychrome silk textile, small creases, mounted, framed and glazed
12 7/8 x 8in. (32.6 x 20.1cm.)

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Lot Essay

In some ways this portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah resembles one in the Louvre, signed by Abu'l Hassan Ghaffari (Layla Diba (ed.), Royal Persian Paintings. The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, New York, 1998, no. 74, pp. 241-43). Although the setting differs, the Shah's facial features and demeanour are similar. Diba mentions that that work testifies to the new conventions for official portraiture devised by Nasiri court painters, where images of the ruler convey his luxurious tastes and autocratic yet melancholy character (Diba, op. cit., p. 241).

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