TWO QAJAR STANDING PORTRAITS
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Opaque pigments, ink and pencil on paper, comprising a full-length standing portrait of a Qajar soldier (sarbaz-e Khaqan, soldier of the King), portrayed with a long wooden rifle resting on his shoulder, a gourd-shaped gunpowder flask tied to his striped termeh fabric belt, wearing a tall kaj kolah headdress, a domed building with a large iwan in the background, possibly the palace he ought to defend, the recto marked with a black ink ownership seal stamp reading Mohammad Sadeq Al Hosseini and a further note "paid 1,500 dinars - Mohammad Al Hosseini", mounted, glazed and framed, 36cm x 27cm including the frame; and another full-length portrait with a Qajar youth wearing a long light blue robe and a khanjar dagger tucked in his belt, dated 1258 AH (1842) and reading in black ink From my heart and soul, I became Ali's slave on the lower left corner, set within red rules and thumbnail impressed cream borders worked in the nakhuni technique and featuring Western-inspired scrolling vegetal volutes, mounted, glazed and framed, 35.5cm x 27.5cm including the frame.