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Lot Essay
This painting is the second Afsharid oil to appear at auction in recent years. It may be compared to a double portrait that appeared at Sotheby's on 22 May 1986, lot 175. In this double portrait a young couple is depicted, possibly representing a marriage portrait of a son of Nadir Shah. The young man wears the typical Afsharid turban. The young woman is dressed in a manner similar to the present portrait, with banded brocade leggings and a brocade overcoat. She wears her hair in a similar fashion with two long braids hanging in front of her face and a similar Indian type sash on her head secured by a small cap with pendant pearl-edged ornaments. A curious feature of both is the golden epaulettes which can just be seen in the present portrait.
The period of Nadir Shah Afshar is famous for the looting of the Mughal treasuries in 1739, and Mughal influence may be discerned here in the textile designs.
Oil paintings from the Afsharid period are extremely rare. Apart from two portraits of Nadir Shah in the Commonwealth Office and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no other examples are known.
The present portrait has more in common with the portrait of Nadir Shah in the V & A than with the larger Safavid oil paintings that have come to light in recent years. Those are all of standing figures either in landscapes or in interiors with twisted columns, covered tables and marble checkerboard floors imitating European painting. The subject of this painting is shown comfortably seated on the floor, Persian style, as is the case with the portrait of Nadir Shah. All the focus is on the person, while the interior is lightly depicted.
(Diba, L.: Royal Persian Paintings, 1785-1925, New York, 1998, pp.138-40).
The period of Nadir Shah Afshar is famous for the looting of the Mughal treasuries in 1739, and Mughal influence may be discerned here in the textile designs.
Oil paintings from the Afsharid period are extremely rare. Apart from two portraits of Nadir Shah in the Commonwealth Office and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no other examples are known.
The present portrait has more in common with the portrait of Nadir Shah in the V & A than with the larger Safavid oil paintings that have come to light in recent years. Those are all of standing figures either in landscapes or in interiors with twisted columns, covered tables and marble checkerboard floors imitating European painting. The subject of this painting is shown comfortably seated on the floor, Persian style, as is the case with the portrait of Nadir Shah. All the focus is on the person, while the interior is lightly depicted.
(Diba, L.: Royal Persian Paintings, 1785-1925, New York, 1998, pp.138-40).