拍品专文
A very rare feature of this penbox is that the signature, which is formed at the far end of the interior of the tray, beside a self portrait of the artist. Only two other pen boxes by Muhammad Isma'il are known which contain a portrait of the artist. One sold in these Rooms, 12 October 2004, lot 93 (also recorded in M.A.Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives Art of Old Painters of Iran, Vol. I, London, 1985, pp.69-70). The other sold at Sotheby's, 12 October 2000, lot 90. Sadly the face of our Muhammad Isma’il has suffered some flaking, but comparison with the others shows strong similarity – in all three the artist is depicted with a red beard and wearing an Astrakhan hat, hard at work painting with a brush in his right hand. All three penboxes also share a very similar decoration and composition covering the rest of the box, with central depictions of the court of Nasir al-Din Shah, the artist’s principle patron. For a short note on the artist, please see the preceding lot.