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Lot Essay
The composition of our painting can be traced to a work of Reza ‘Abbasi which was dated 1628, but unfortunately is now lost (Langer, 2013, pp.172-73). Another extremely similar example is housed in Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva (inv. no. 1971-0107-0070, see ibid., no. 68, p.173). Reza can be credited with having taken up the ghulam-i-farangi, the “young European” theme in seventeenth century Isfahan. A particularly noticeable feature of our painting is the presence of the small lapdog, illustrated with a delicate and expensive collar.
Although lapdogs depicted in Persian paintings from this era often have an erotic or sexual significance (Babaie, 2009, p.132), this is not the case here. However, it has been suggested that the youth, holding a wine bottle and a cup, read as a saqi, could be a metaphor for the beloved, and the dog a witty illusion to the pursuers of such fair youths (Langer, 2013, p.173).
Although lapdogs depicted in Persian paintings from this era often have an erotic or sexual significance (Babaie, 2009, p.132), this is not the case here. However, it has been suggested that the youth, holding a wine bottle and a cup, read as a saqi, could be a metaphor for the beloved, and the dog a witty illusion to the pursuers of such fair youths (Langer, 2013, p.173).