* A QAJAR OIL PAINTING DEPICTING YUSUF BRINGING ORANGES TO ZULEYKHA AND HER MAIDENS
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Iran, late 19th - 20th century

Oil on canvas, heightened with gold pigment and varnished, the horizontal composition depicting a popular topos in Persian literature, taken from Jami's Haft Awrang tale of Yusuf o Zuleykha, a handsome Prince Yusuf (Joseph) wearing a tall bejewelled crown and entering the room carrying oranges piled high on a tray, Zuleykha positioned in the centre with a mesmerised and speechless attendant to her left, her and Yusuf in similar bejewelled pink courtly dresses, Zuleykha's maidens and attendants holding knives alluding to the passage in Jami's narrative when Yusuf's beauty mesmerises them to the point that they cut themselves by accident, an inviting scene with Yusuf and four maidens looking straight at the beholder, all set within a typical Qajar courtly interior against a forest backdrop, the back plain, mounted and stretched, 65cm x 45.5cm.