SIGNED [MUHAMMAD] ISMA'IL, IRAN, DATED AH 1275/1858-59 AD

Details

A QAJAR LACQUER PÂPIER MÂCHÉ LACQUER PENBOX (QALAMDAN)
SIGNED [MUHAMMAD] ISMA'IL, IRAN, DATED AH 1275/1858-59 AD
Of typical form with rounded ends and sliding tray, the top and sides decorated with cartouches with gold rococo frames each depicting scenes from the tale of Sheikh Sana'an, the central cartouche on the top with a small ogival medallion above and below containing the signature raqm bandeh kamtarin Isma'il 1275, each cartouche linked by a smaller one filled with white nasta'liq on black ground and framed by gul-o-bulbul motifs, the base with a central cartouche depicting an enthroned Qajar royal surrounded by courtiers, flanking this two cartouches with gold scrolls on black ground and cartouches with gul-o-bulbul motifs, all on green ground with interstices decorated with small parrots, each side of the tray with a moulded cusped cartouche with further figural scene, the ground with gold scrolls on red ground, overall good condition
9 5/8in. (24.3cm.) long

Provenance

Collection of Sir Walter Townley, sold Sotheby's, London, 30 June 1921, lot 200

Engraved

In the cartouches above and below the central image, 'The lowliest slave Isma'il drew it'
In the cartouche on the right , 'It was completed on the order of the relation of the Khaqan, his excellence [?] in Isfahan'
Around the sides are depcited a number of Sufi figures identified as Mawlana [Rumi], Shams al-Din Tabrizi, Beyazid [Bastami] and Sultan Ibrahim [ibn Adham]

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Lot Essay

Muhammad Isma'il was one of the most celebrated lacquer painters of the mid-19th century. His recorded works are dated between AH 1256/1840-41 AD and AH 1288/1871-72 AD. For some time he was thought to have been the younger brother of the artist Najaf ‘Ali although later research suggests that he was rather his pupil. Indeed there is an obvious debt to Najaf ‘Ali’s style in Isma’il’s work (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W.Robinson and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part II, London, 1997, p. 46). He received the title naqqash-bashi (chief painter), from Nasir al-Din Shah around AH 1275/1858-59 AD. For more information on Muhammad Isma'il see and M.A.Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives Art of Old Painters of Iran, Vol. I, London, 1985, pp.66-76. For another penbox signed by this important artist, please see the following lot.

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