An early 20th century Iranian (Persian) silver cased bottle, Isfahan circa 1910 mark of Ja'far

Qajar dynasty, of rounded ‘mallet’ form with a green glass core. The body with pierced and engraved ghalam zani decoration of foliage with populated with nightingales gol-o bolbol. The neck with a bulbous ring section above a foliate band, the upper section with engraved nightingales and foliage. The domed lid surmounted by a pointed faceted finial modelled after a helmet, engraved decoration of floral panels. The lid with twin suspension loops, attached with one chain to the neck of the body, a cork interior. Marked underneath with workshop mark Amal-e Ja'far عمل جعفر (the work of Ja’far).

Height – 33.6 cm / 13.25 inches

Gross weight – 1481 grams

There is a significant corpus of silverware marked for Ja’far, the range of wares covering tea sets and trays, cigarette boxes, beakers, chargers, condiments, card cases and cocktail shakers. Dated examples are known from at least the 1920’s yet the style of the decoration can be associated with the very end of the 19^th century until the 1930’s. There are two main groups of decoration for wares marked Ja’far; those with figures, drawn upon Safavid paintings either shown in courtly group scenes with musicians or as individuals, then there are those with dense foliage populated with nightingales gol-o bolbol. It is probable that Ja’far was both a manufacturing workshop and a retailer, silver bearing this mark is seen in both Isfahan style engraving and the chased figural work of Shiraz, indeed some of the finest wares combine both these styles on the same piece suggesting that Shirazi craftsmen may have been employed in Isfahan. This is quite probable as Shirazi craftsman were known to have been employed in Baghdad from the 1930’s and some unverified sources have suggested that Ja’far hailed from Shiraz himself. On rare occasions Ja’far marks are found upon filigree items typical of Zanjan, aiding the notion that much like the many stores selling Chinese Export silver at this time, items were retailed by Ja’far as well. Chinese Export silver was proficient in its use of piercing and the use of silver ‘cage’ work on bottles at the very end of the 19^th century, thus the present lot both in its technique and form is clearly a development upon Chinese Export silver that was at its height of popularity at this time.