ATTRIBUTED TO MUHAMMAD 'ALI, SAFAVID IRAN, CIRCA 1650

One of the great legacies of the Safavid artist Reza Abbasi (fl.ca.1565-1635) was the generation of talented pupils who developed and expanded upon his style. Among the most able of these was Muhammad 'Ali (fl.ca.1630-50), to whom this drawing may be attributed. While some details relate to the work of his contemporary Muhammad Qasim, the ears and face, particularly the eyes, of our dervish are almost identical to those of an old man in a painting attributed to Muhammad 'Ali in the David Collection (155⁄2006). It is attributed to circa 1650 and comes from a dispersed Diwan of Hafiz, most of which is divided between the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul and the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (Kjeld von Folsach, For the Privileged Few: Islamic Miniature Painting from The David Collection, Copenhagen, 2008, cat.91). A portrait signed by Muhammad 'Ali was sold in these Rooms, 30 April 2026, lot 71.

This painting and lot 8 from the present sale were part of the collection of noted French financier Octave Homberg (1876-1941), whose collection was sold across several sales in the 1930-1940s to some of the great collectors of Islamic Art, such as Henri Vever, whose collection now forms a part of The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (Glenn D. Lowry and Susan Nemazee, A Jeweller's Eye: Islamic Arts of the Book from the Vever Collection, Washington D.C., 1988, p.35). It was acquired by the brothers Agop (1871-1951) and Merguedditch (1881-1927) Indjoudjian, who were among the most prominent Armenian dealers and connoisseurs of Islamic art in the 20th century.