ATTRIBUTABLE TO NAJAF 'ALI, QAJAR IRAN, MID-19TH CENTURY

Details

A LACQUER PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PENBOX (QALAMDAN)
ATTRIBUTABLE TO NAJAF 'ALI, QAJAR IRAN, MID-19TH CENTURY
Of typical form with rounded ends and sliding tray, the polychrome painted decoration depicting a standing lady in Indian garb, holding an umbrella, strolling in the grounds of an estate besides a river, a peacock and ducks at her feet, a castle in the background ; the sides with repeating view of a palace and its dependencies flanked with portraits of young ladies in oval medallions within foliated split-palmettes, the sliding tray and base with intricate gold floral scrolls on red ground
9 ¼in. (23.5cm.) long

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

A comparable qalamdan, signed Najaf 'Ali and dated to the mid-19th century, sold at Christie's London, 10 October 2013, lot 105

The two pencases are very closely related to another example signed ya Shah-i Najaf' and dated AH1259/1843-44 AD in a private collection which was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Mary McWilliams and David J. Roxburgh, Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c. 1600-1900, New Haven, 2007, fig. 44, p. 62). Another example, with a very similar vertical composition of an Indian lady, signed and dated AH 1270/1853-54 AD is in the Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, London, 1996, cat.226, pp.31-33).

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