SAFAVID IRAN, SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

The intricate detail found on the saddle cloth of the camel in this painting is reminiscent of the iconic painting of fighting camels by the artist Behzad which was painted in Tabriz in 1535. The rendering of the saddle cloth in our work is as detailed and intricate as those illustrated by Behzad. However it is slightly more flowing and naturalistic suggesting that it is a later work. The pot-bellied figure on the right with his large rounded turban composed of graphic lines of varying thickness relate this work to that of Reza ‘Abbasi and the Isfahan school of the first half of the 17th century. Reza ‘Abbasi is recorded as having copied several works by Behzad, including a portrait of a bearded hunter wearing a very similar turban to that found on the figure on the right of our painting (Sheila Canby, The Rebellious Reformer, London, 1999, p.135, cat.99). The face of the turbaned figure with its gentle shading and subtle red wash on the cheeks is related to a portrait of a dervish in the Hermitage which Adel Adamova dates to the mid-17th century and attributes to Muhammad Muhsin (Adel Adamova, Persian Painting and Drawing from the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, 1996, p.230, no.27). The face of our figure is slightly softer and more subtle than that of the dervish in the Hermitage suggesting that our work is probably slightly later than that of Muhammad Muhsin.