Lot 145
145
A PAIR OF QAJAR PAINTED AND GESSO APPLIED WOODEN DOORS
A PAIR OF QAJAR PAINTED AND GESSO APPLIED WOODEN DOORS
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A PAIR OF QAJAR PAINTED AND GESSO APPLIED WOODEN DOORS

ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE IMAMI WORKSHOP, ISFAHAN OR TEHRAN, IRAN, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAIR OF QAJAR PAINTED AND GESSO APPLIED WOODEN DOORS
ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE IMAMI WORKSHOP, ISFAHAN OR TEHRAN, IRAN, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Each door of rectangular form with vertical panels flanked above and below by horizontal panels, the vertical panels each with a central polychrome figural cartouche flanked by similar smaller figural and calligraphic cartouches and spandrels on a ground of gold-outlined figural scenes, large animal combat and hunting scenes decorate the panels forming the upper and lower sections, the borders with large figures set in cusped medallions alternated with minor medallions with depictions of the signs of the zodiac, two medallions reserved against a ground of scrolling vine inhabited with animal combat scenes, surrounded by an outer border of stylised cloudbands, the reverse plain with hinge attachments to the upper outer corners



Each door 76¼ x 21¼in. (193.8 x 54cm.)
Engraved
In the upper cartouches, bar hasb-e amr-e homayun-e [a]'la sultan al-salatin shah 'abbas al-safawi al-musawi bahadur khan khallada allah mulkahu 1041, 'On the royal, most exalted order of the Sultan of Sultans, Shah 'Abbas al-Safawi al-Musawi Bahadur Khan, may God perpetuate his reign AH 1041/1631-32 AD'
In the bottom cartouches, dar darist kaz shah 'abbas shod padid an shah ke az qiyamatesh beshod iran jadid chun shahr-e 'elm ahmad va babesh bovad 'ali dakhel har an-keh gasht az in dar bovad sa'id, 'This door is the door that came to existance through Shah 'Abbas That shah, through whose coming Iran was renewed Since Ahmad (i.e. Muhammad) is the City of Knowledge and 'Ali is its gate Everyone who passes through this door becomes fortunate'

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Lot Essay

A very similar pair of moulded and painted lacquered wooden doors, attributed to the Imami school, are in the Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, vol.2, London, 1997, no.320, pp.112 and 115-16). Another related pair were sold in these Rooms, 20 October 1992, lot 181. They came from the collection of H. Khan Monif (circa 1935) and were in fact used as the background for a Harper's Bazaar fashion shoot in September 1939. More recently a closely related pair were sold in these Rooms, 11 October 2005, lot 128.

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