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Lot Essay
Our qalamdan finds two close comparable examples in two qalamdans which sold at Christie’s: the first, signed Najaf 'Ali and dated to the mid-19th century, sold at Christie's London, on 10 October 2013, lot 105 and the second, unsigned, sold at Christie's London, on 24 April 2015, lot 222.
The three pen cases mentioned above are very closely related to another example signed ‘Ya Shah-i Najaf' and dated AH 1259/1843-44 AD in a private collection which was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Mary McWilliams and David J. Roxburgh, Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c. 1600-1900, New Haven, 2007, fig. 44, p. 62). Another example painted with a similar standing figure of an Indian lady, signed and dated AH 1270/1853-54 AD is in the Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, London, 1996, cat.226, pp.31-33).
The three pen cases mentioned above are very closely related to another example signed ‘Ya Shah-i Najaf' and dated AH 1259/1843-44 AD in a private collection which was exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Mary McWilliams and David J. Roxburgh, Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice, c. 1600-1900, New Haven, 2007, fig. 44, p. 62). Another example painted with a similar standing figure of an Indian lady, signed and dated AH 1270/1853-54 AD is in the Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, London, 1996, cat.226, pp.31-33).