A MINIATURE GRISAILLE PORTRAIT OF A QAJAR BEAUTY
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Qajar Iran, early 19th century

Ink, pencil, white wash, gold and opaque pigments on paper, the miniature oval portrait painted in the scale of greys (grisaille) and depicting a Qajar lady wearing strings of pearls around her head and neck, her rounded bosoms escaping from her tightly fitted dress, her cheeks and the bouquet on the left heightened with splashes of pink, blue and green pigments, set within a rectangular frame covered with gold foil, and concentric decorative borders in light blue and gold and polychrome-painted floral decoration, mounted, glazed and framed, the portrait 6cm x 4.5cm, 38cm x 28.2cm including the frame.