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Lot Essay
This expressive composition takes as its subject a moment of tenderness between a Safavid lady and a cat. The animal wears a golden collar, suggesting that this is a pet. Though this is not a common subject for painters, the Italian traveller Pietro della Valle (1586-1652) records that he saw "a beautiful breed of cat" in Khorasan in 1620, and acquired four pairs to take back to Rome with him (Digard 2005). Colour depictions of idealised youthful figures against a plain background became popular in early 17th century Iran, with examples including two paintings from the Clive Album in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc.nos.IS.133:46/A-1964 and IS.133:28/A-1964). The colouration of this figure even more closely resembles a painting sold in these Rooms, 27 October 2022, lot 58, particularly in the rendering of the gold detailing on the clothes. The hands and face of both figures were outlined in a brownish-red ink to create a softer impression.
This figure seems to have been something of a type in contemporary portraiture. The pose of this figure - seated with legs bent, one upright and the other flat to the ground - can also be seen in a painting formerly in the Nasli M. Heermaneck Collection, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc.no.M.73.5.458). In the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, there is an album which mainly contains similar single leaf portraits (acc.no.W.671). Of those, three are sat in the same pose with matching headdresses (ff.4a, 19a, 27b) and three are in the same pose with a fur hat (ff.5b, 27b, 30a). Though these women are depicted engaged in a variety of activities - including reading, pouring out wine into a cup, and contemplating a basket of fruit - in none of those images does a cat appear.
This painting is of a notably higher quality than those in the Baltimore album, and has a number of distinctive features: the sharply-defined angularity of the fingers, the small curve on the chin, and the delicate ringlets of hair falling down in front of the ears. In all these details, this figure is comparable to the reclining youth signed by Muhammad Qasim which sold in these Rooms, 25 October 2018, lot 103. Thanks to the work of Ada Adamova, and her re-reading of an inscription on a painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.11.84.14), we now understand that Muhammad Qasim was a contemporary of Reza Abbasi and not a follower of his (Adamova 2003; see the note to the previous lot for further discussion). Thus, we understand that works such as the signed standing figures in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (acc.no.S1986.305) and in the Victoria and Albert (acc.no.MSL/1980⁄6964) were painted in the 1590s. Of these the latter has a face very similar to our figure.
The calligraphy to the verso is signed by a Muhammad Reza. This is probably Muhammad Riza Tabrizi, a pupil of Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi, and a contemporary of Imad al-Hasani. Mustafa Ali in the Menakib-i Hünerveran states that in 994 (1585-6) he went to Istanbul where he attracted the attention of the great men of the day, especially Mevlana Sa‘deddin, and where his calligraphic works, which he produced only in small numbers, commanded a high price. One source states that he returned with great wealth to Tabriz where he died in 1037 (1627-8). Bayani records pieces by him dated between 978 (1570-1) and 993 (1585-6) (Bayani 1348 sh., pp.726-8). The same verses are found on a calligraphic page copied by Imad al-Hasani (Kwiatkowski 2019, no.21, pp.80-81).
For more information on the Dent collection, from which this painting was acquired in 1972, see lot 23.
This figure seems to have been something of a type in contemporary portraiture. The pose of this figure - seated with legs bent, one upright and the other flat to the ground - can also be seen in a painting formerly in the Nasli M. Heermaneck Collection, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (acc.no.M.73.5.458). In the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, there is an album which mainly contains similar single leaf portraits (acc.no.W.671). Of those, three are sat in the same pose with matching headdresses (ff.4a, 19a, 27b) and three are in the same pose with a fur hat (ff.5b, 27b, 30a). Though these women are depicted engaged in a variety of activities - including reading, pouring out wine into a cup, and contemplating a basket of fruit - in none of those images does a cat appear.
This painting is of a notably higher quality than those in the Baltimore album, and has a number of distinctive features: the sharply-defined angularity of the fingers, the small curve on the chin, and the delicate ringlets of hair falling down in front of the ears. In all these details, this figure is comparable to the reclining youth signed by Muhammad Qasim which sold in these Rooms, 25 October 2018, lot 103. Thanks to the work of Ada Adamova, and her re-reading of an inscription on a painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.11.84.14), we now understand that Muhammad Qasim was a contemporary of Reza Abbasi and not a follower of his (Adamova 2003; see the note to the previous lot for further discussion). Thus, we understand that works such as the signed standing figures in the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C. (acc.no.S1986.305) and in the Victoria and Albert (acc.no.MSL/1980⁄6964) were painted in the 1590s. Of these the latter has a face very similar to our figure.
The calligraphy to the verso is signed by a Muhammad Reza. This is probably Muhammad Riza Tabrizi, a pupil of Muhammad Husayn Tabrizi, and a contemporary of Imad al-Hasani. Mustafa Ali in the Menakib-i Hünerveran states that in 994 (1585-6) he went to Istanbul where he attracted the attention of the great men of the day, especially Mevlana Sa‘deddin, and where his calligraphic works, which he produced only in small numbers, commanded a high price. One source states that he returned with great wealth to Tabriz where he died in 1037 (1627-8). Bayani records pieces by him dated between 978 (1570-1) and 993 (1585-6) (Bayani 1348 sh., pp.726-8). The same verses are found on a calligraphic page copied by Imad al-Hasani (Kwiatkowski 2019, no.21, pp.80-81).
For more information on the Dent collection, from which this painting was acquired in 1972, see lot 23.