QAJAR IRAN, 19TH CENTURY

Details

THE IMAM 'ALI
QAJAR IRAN, 19TH CENTURY
Gouache heightened with gold on paper, the Imam 'Ali sits, wearing brown robes and green turban with large sword resting across his knees, gold and polychrome illuminated headpiece above surrounding cartouche with black naskh on gold ground, laid down between a wide border border with dense gold and polychrome floral spray and minor polychrome rules on an outer border of gold calligraphic cartouches alternated with small quatrefoil motifs on a cobalt ground with gold and polychrome illumination, mounted, framed and glazed
Miniature 4 7/8 x 3½in. (12.5 x 9cm.); folio 12¼ x 9 5/8in. (31.2 x 24.5cm.)

Provenance

Purchased April 12, 1930 from the American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, sale of the Horace Havermeyer collection.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The inscription in the panel above the portrait reads: qala rasul allah salla allah 'alayha wa alihi wa sallam ana madinat al-'ilm wa 'ali babuha, (The Messenger of God - may God bless him and his family and grant him salvation - said, I am the city of knowledge and 'Ali is its gate). In the corner of the portrait are the words 'O Husayn!'. The calligraphy in the borders are a call to God to bless Muhammad and his family, a saying of the Prophet (mentioned here as that of God, i.e. from the Qur'an) and a munajat, including the Fourteen Innocents.

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