BY ZAIN AL-ABIDIN, PERSIA, DATED AH 1272/1855-6 AD

Details

A QAJAR POLYCHROME LACQUER PAPIER MACHE MIRROR CASE
By Zain Al-Abidin, Persia, Dated AH 1272/1855-6 AD
Of rectangular form with hinged cover, the front and back each with a granular glitter ground finely painted with a gul-o bulbul design of a variety of flowering plants together with perching birds and hovering butterflies, the interior gold leaf ground painted with a stronger floral spray centred on an iris, signed above "Ya Imam Zain al-Abidin", silver hinges and clasp, very slight restoration, re-lacquered, mirror missing
9 3/8 x 6 1/8in. (23.8 x 15.6cm.)

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Further details

END OF MORNING SESSION

Lot Essay

A very comparable mirror case by him is in the Khalili Collection (Khalili, Nasser D., Robinson, B.W. and Stanley, Tim: Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, part 2, London 1997, no.292, pp.90-93). Zain al-Din Isfahani, who was also known under the name of Mir Aqa, was one of the leading members of the Imami school of lacquer painting, along with Nasrullah al-Husayni and Ghulam Reza al-Imami. Members of this school have been demonstrated to have shared cartoons, so the similarity of the interiors of the mirror cases in lots 137-139 may not necessarily mean that they are all by the same artist.

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