English: A SON OF FATH 'ALI SHAH QAJAR

CIRCLE OF MEHR 'ALI, QAJAR IRAN, CIRCA 1815

Oil on canvas, bust portrait of a son of Fath 'Ali, wearing a high Qajar crown and elaborately jewelled collar and bazubands on his sleeves, with pendant just visible through the his long black beard, originally larger, areas of restoration, re-lined 27 x 17in. (69 x 43cm.)

This portrait, of one of the sons of Fath 'Ali Shah, is from a copy of the full scale triptych done for the Negarestan Palace outside Tehran in 1812-13, the masterpiece of a team of artists under the supervision of 'Abdallah Khan. Although a number of small-scale copies of that work are recorded (see for example the following lot) this is from another full-scale version. The right hand side of a full-scale version sold in Sotheby's, 8 April 1975, lot 183. The left hand side is recorded by J. Soustiel, Objet d'Art de l'Islam, Paris, 1973, no. 28. The present portrait must have been either from the central panel or from the top row of a left hand side panel where the figures all where similar pearl-studded crowns, collars and bazubands.

For reference see B.W.Robinson, The Court Painters of Fath 'Ali Shah, Eretz-Israel, Vol. 7 (L.A. Mayer memorial volume), Jerusalem, 1964.

For further discussion of the Negarestan Palace paintings see the following lot.