A PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAIT OF PRINCE MOHAMMAD ALI MIRZA ETEZAD ES SALTANEH, LATER MOHAMMAD ALI SHAH QAJAR (r. 1907-1909)
Iran, ca. 1880 - 1900

Photographic gelatin print laid on board, the prince in black Astrakhan hat with the emblem of the Lion and the Sword (Shir o Shamshir), in semi-official military uniform and tricolor sash, three stellar decorations, passementerie in the Russian style, signed in Persian ‘special photographer Abdullah Qajar’ in lower margins, 20.3cm x 13.7cm, 23.5cm x 14.9cm including the board.

The Qajar prince Abdullah Mirza studied photography and printmaking in Paris, Vienna, and Salzburg. Having already been a practitioner and teacher of photography at the Dar al-Fonun School in Tehran, he was appointed court photographer in 1883. He was a prolific chronicler of Persian life and a narrator of the Royal foreign tours.