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拍品專文
Jalal al-Din Mirza (1827-72) was a son of Fath ‘Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797-1834). He was a Qajar historian and freethinker and the author of the Nameh-i Khusravan, one of the earliest examples of modern Iranian historiography in the Qajar period (https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jalal-al-din-mirza).
A portrait of Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza, depicted face on and clean shaven, is published in Yahya Zoka, Life and Works of Sani' ol-Molk, 1814-1866, Tehran, 2003, fig.11, p.153. A much smaller portrait of the Prince standing in a landscape was sold in these Rooms, 9 October 2014, lot 71. As in our portrait, that painting depicted him with long moustache and closely shaven beard.
It seems very probable that this paining is the work of the court artist Abu’l Hassan Ghaffari. In the fine rendering of Prince Jalal al-Din’s countenance and the imposing presence of the figure, our painting has strong affinities with the artist’s work of the 1850s and 60s. The heavily embroidered robe worn by our Prince bears strong resemblance to those modelled by Ardeshir Mirza in a portrait published by Layla Diba (Layla S. Diba (ed.), Royal Persian Paintings. The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1998, fig.XXVIII, p.251) or in a portrait of the young Nasir al Din Shah, sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 120. In the fine details of his facial features with the slightly hooded eyes, light wrinkling of the forehead and the curl of hair under his hat, the portrait recalls a painting of Imam Quli Khan ‘Imad al-Dawleh attributed to the artist by Layla Diba and dated to circa 1855-56 (Diba, op.cit., no.80, p.252).
The work of Abu’l Hassan demonstrates a change in the aesthetic of Qajar painting in the mid-19th century (Julian Raby, Qajar Portraits, exhibition catalogue, London, 1999, p.53). The artist began his career as a pupil of Mehr 'Ali, but none of his early works survive and it is therefore unclear as to whether his painting began in a style more typical of Fath 'Ali Shah's reign. He was appointed the naqqashbashi (chief painter) of the court of Muhammad Shah in 1842 (Yahya Zoka, op.cit., Iran, 2003, p. 21) and was sent to study in Italy and Paris, a factor which began to manifest itself in a European-influenced realism in his work that was new to Persian painting. The expressive power of his portraits - as demonstrated here - led Abu’l Hassan to the art of caricature and he became the illustrator to the court newspaper, Ruznama-i vugayi-i ittifaqiya. Alongside the more traditional depictions of Qajar nobles, he showed a capacity for the merciless caricature of their attendants and the religious classes (Julian Raby, op. cit., p.53).
A portrait of Prince Jalal al-Din Mirza, depicted face on and clean shaven, is published in Yahya Zoka, Life and Works of Sani' ol-Molk, 1814-1866, Tehran, 2003, fig.11, p.153. A much smaller portrait of the Prince standing in a landscape was sold in these Rooms, 9 October 2014, lot 71. As in our portrait, that painting depicted him with long moustache and closely shaven beard.
It seems very probable that this paining is the work of the court artist Abu’l Hassan Ghaffari. In the fine rendering of Prince Jalal al-Din’s countenance and the imposing presence of the figure, our painting has strong affinities with the artist’s work of the 1850s and 60s. The heavily embroidered robe worn by our Prince bears strong resemblance to those modelled by Ardeshir Mirza in a portrait published by Layla Diba (Layla S. Diba (ed.), Royal Persian Paintings. The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1998, fig.XXVIII, p.251) or in a portrait of the young Nasir al Din Shah, sold in these Rooms, 10 April 2014, lot 120. In the fine details of his facial features with the slightly hooded eyes, light wrinkling of the forehead and the curl of hair under his hat, the portrait recalls a painting of Imam Quli Khan ‘Imad al-Dawleh attributed to the artist by Layla Diba and dated to circa 1855-56 (Diba, op.cit., no.80, p.252).
The work of Abu’l Hassan demonstrates a change in the aesthetic of Qajar painting in the mid-19th century (Julian Raby, Qajar Portraits, exhibition catalogue, London, 1999, p.53). The artist began his career as a pupil of Mehr 'Ali, but none of his early works survive and it is therefore unclear as to whether his painting began in a style more typical of Fath 'Ali Shah's reign. He was appointed the naqqashbashi (chief painter) of the court of Muhammad Shah in 1842 (Yahya Zoka, op.cit., Iran, 2003, p. 21) and was sent to study in Italy and Paris, a factor which began to manifest itself in a European-influenced realism in his work that was new to Persian painting. The expressive power of his portraits - as demonstrated here - led Abu’l Hassan to the art of caricature and he became the illustrator to the court newspaper, Ruznama-i vugayi-i ittifaqiya. Alongside the more traditional depictions of Qajar nobles, he showed a capacity for the merciless caricature of their attendants and the religious classes (Julian Raby, op. cit., p.53).