A QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PENCASE (QALAMDAN)

INSCRIBED YA SADIQ AL-WA'D (FOR MUHAMMAD SADIQ), IRAN, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Details

A QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PENCASE (QALAMDAN)
INSCRIBED YA SADIQ AL-WA'D (FOR MUHAMMAD SADIQ), IRAN, LATE 18TH CENTURY
Of typical elongated form, the painted decoration depicting a young lady in antique garb holding a pan flute in one hand and a feather in the other, standing in a landscape with a pavilion in the background, each sides depicting a lion, deer and wild boar hunt, the base with a gilt floriated quatrefoil issuing foliate palmettes on black ground, with possibly added signature "ya sadiq al-wa'd"
8¾in. (22.5cm.) long

Provenance

Sotheby's (?), 27 April 1995, lot 110

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Lot Essay

The inscription on this pen box Ya Sadiq al-Wa'd ('O You who are true to Your promise') is generally accepted as the crypto-signature of Muhammad Sadiq. He was the most celebrated pupil of 'Ali Ashraf who was mainly known for his lacquer bindings and who signed the cover of the St Petersburg album. Although there might have been an artist called Muhammad Sadiq active from 1716 to 1764, the pupil of 'Ali Ashraf flourished under Karim Khan Zand and the earlier Qajars (1747 to 1796). Muhammad Sadiq's prefered themes seemed to have been figural decoration.

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