A ROBUST NOBLEMAN HOLDING A SACRIFICIAL LAMB
Zand Iran, 18th century

Ink, pencil and opaque pigments on wove paper, the vertical composition a muraqqa' folio, the verso portraying a corpulent nobleman holding a lamb in three-quarter pose facing right, possibly an 'eid offering, the fine black ink drawing with delicate modelling, with red and gold highlights on the headdress, sash, and purse, the voluminous trouser hitched up, the heeled black shoes with upturned toes, numbered 62 in Persian in black ink on the top right, set in a later double mount of pale pink and ecru, schematically illuminated in gold, on blue paper, the drawing 9cm x 5.5cm; and the recto with two lines of Persian poetry from Attar’s Mantiq al-Tayr, Bayan-e Wadi of Towhid, and Luqman of Sarakhs’ prayers to God, the calligraphy in black ink nasta’liq script in chalipa format, encased in cloudbands, the blue border triangles illuminated with scrolling floral motifs, the folio 23.5cm x 17cm.