A ZAND POLYCHROME PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENCASE (QALAMDAN)
A ZAND POLYCHROME PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENCASE (QALAMDAN)
A ZAND POLYCHROME PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENCASE (QALAMDAN)
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A ZAND POLYCHROME PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENCASE (QALAMDAN)

SIGNED MUHAMMAD BAQIR, IRAN, DATED AH 1197/1782-83 AD

Details
A ZAND POLYCHROME PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENCASE (QALAMDAN)
SIGNED MUHAMMAD BAQIR, IRAN, DATED AH 1197/1782-83 AD
Of rectangular form, the lid decorated with a noblemen visiting a hermit, beside a European-inspired harbour, the sides of the lid with white nasta'liq verses in cusped cartouches on a black ground highlighted with scrolling floral vine, the underside of the lid depicting a hunt on horseback, the central royal figure with a hawk, signed and dated there in red nasta'liq, a bridge and architectural ruins around them, the sides of the box with scenes of architectural ruins set in a wooded landscape, birds flying above, the underside painted in red, the interior in gold
9 7/8in. (25.2cm.) long
Engraved
The five couplets around the lid are in praise of 'Ali Murad Khan who commissioned the penbox. The last verse contains the date in abjad as well as in numerals, AH 1197.
Sale room notice
This Lot is Withdrawn.

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Lot Essay

Muhammad Baqir was a pupil of 'Ali Ashraf whose activity is well-attested from the 1730s onwards, although some works are dated earlier. The lacquer works of Muhammad Baqir mostly employ compositions with flowers and birds, but he was an artist known to have been a master of many skills and his output was multi-faceted. As well as working in lacquer and enamel, he is also one of the artists responsible for working on the borders of the famous St. Petersburg Muraqqa (B.W. Robinson, "Qajar Painted Enamels", Paintings from Islamic Lands, Oxford, 1969, pl.122). His recorded works are dated between AH 1172/1758-59 AD and AH 1244/1828-29 AD. For further discussion on the artist, Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson, Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part I, London, 1996, p.114.

It is probable that the verses on this penbox are in praise of 'Ali Murad Khan, the sixth Zand ruler of Iran (r.1781-85). In addition to this important commission, Muhammad Baqir is known to have drawn a portrait of Karim Khan Zand (in the State Museum of Art of the Georgian Republic, Tbilisi, Inv.no.12), painted a lacquer binding for a copy of the Bustan of Sadi for Baba Khan (the future Fath ‘Ali Shah) and worked with two other famous painters at the court of Fath ‘Ali Shah – Mirza Baba and Sayyid Mirza. We can thus assume that he worked at the Zand and Qajar courts (Francesca von Habsburg et al., The St. Petersburg Muraqqa', Lugano, 1996, p.29).

For a floral study in this sale, attributed to Muhammad Baqir, please see lot 84.

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