IRAN, 19TH CENTURY

Our figure is in the style of Iranian stucco figures from the 12th/early 13th century which are known to have decorated the walls of Seljuk palaces and other secular buildings. Like the present example, these figures were carved in high-relief with some parts entirely sculpted. Their reverses show that they were at some point attached to an architectural support. The stance of our figure, the jewelled headdress and the inscribed arm-bands are comparable with a large Seljuk standing figure in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv.no.67.119) and another smaller figure in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv.no.A.21-1928). These figures would have flanked or faced the enthronement area in palaces. They probably represent the personal guards, viziers or courtiers of the Seljuk sultans. For other illustrated examples and further discussion on these stucco figures, see Martina Rugiadi, Sultans of the East and the West, in Canby et al. 2016, pp.40-47.