A QAJAR SILVER AND GOLD-DAMASCENED STEEL MOUFLON
Iran, 19th century

Designed as a mouflon, with backward-turning, curved antlers, decorated with silver and gold-damascened vegetal and fretwork bands spanning the circumference of the body, and floral arabesque cusped cartouches to the chest and back, further decorative geometric patterns on the neck and rear, alternating silver and gold lines on the cheeks, the nostrils, long ears and mouth naturalistically rendered, 30.5cm x 26.3cm.

One of the Qajar period’s most beloved creations in steel is the production of gold-damascened bird-shaped and zoomorphic statuettes. From peacocks, doves, and ducks to deer, camels, ibexes, elephants, cats, lambs, and buraqs, the zoomorphic artistic vocabulary knew no limits (A. Collinet, in L’Empire des Roses: Chefs-d’oeuvre de l’Art Persan du XIX siècle, Louvre-Lens, 2018, p. 92). Some examples may show naïve and stylised features, but the vast majority surprise the beholder with enhanced naturalism and dynamism, with an unexpected understanding of the represented animals’ bodies. According to Collinet, the primary use and purpose of these zoomorphic sculptures were to decorate and embellish the ‘alams (devotional standards) used during important ceremonies and processions, the most important planned for the month of Muharram commemorating Hussain’s martyrdom in Kerbela (ibidem, pp. 92-93).