LATE 19TH CENTURY

Details

A WEST PERSIAN HORSE COVER
LATE 19TH CENTURY
Minor touches of wear, overall good condition
5ft.2in. x 4ft.2in. (158cm. x 127cm.)

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends. The USA prohibits the purchase by US persons of Iranian-origin “works of conventional craftsmanship” such as carpets, textiles, decorative objects, and scientific instruments. The US sanctions apply to US persons regardless of the location of the transaction or the shipping intentions of the US person. For this reason, Christie’s will not accept bids by US persons on this lot. Non-US persons wishing to import this lot into the USA are advised that they will need to apply for an OFAC licence and that this can take many months to be granted.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Behnaz Atighi Moghaddam Head of Sale

batighi@christies.com +44 20 7389 2509

Lot Essay

The inscription reads: hasb al-farmayish mu'tamid al-sultan aqa-yi habibullah khan dama iqbaluhu al-'ali bi-jihat-i bandigan janab-i jalalat-ma'ab-i ajall aqa-yi beglerbegi, ('Order of Mu'tamid al-Sultan Aqa habibullah Khan, may his lofty fortune last, for the sake of [one of God's] servants His excellence the glorious, the most glorious Aqa Beglerbegi (Governor General), may his lofty shadow be extended').

Though many horse covers are decorated with stylised animals, examples of such an overtly pictorial nature as this one are attributed to West Persian weaving centres. Two examples are published by Parviz Tanavoli (Horse and Camel Trappings from Tribal Iran, Tehran, 1998, nos. 2 and 3), of which the former has a dark green border with a similar floral meander to the present lot. A pictorial khordjin, also attributed to Bijar, was offered by Rippon Boswell, 29^th November 2014, lot 65, and is dated to AH 1347/1929 AD.

Based on the weaving of this horse cover and what is known of the patron, it is likely that this example was woven a few decades earlier: Mu’tamid al-Sultan Habibullah Khan is also recorded in a document dated 2 Shawwal 1330 (1911), arranging the estate of his wife in the event of his death. When this was woven the horse and trap was a relatively new arrival in Iran and had become a symbol of progress. Mozaffar al-Din Shah liked being photographed in them as he visited European capitals, though he generally steered clear of them after 1900 when a French anarchist attempted to shoot him as he travelled across Paris in one. The carriage of Nasir al-Din Shah is preserved today at the Historical Automobile Museum, Tehran.

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