A QAJAR POLYCHROME-PAINTED ENAMELLED BRASS QALYAN CUP WITH LANDSCAPES AND PORTRAITS
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Late Qajar Iran, late 19th - early 20th century

Of typical flaring cylindrical shape, with an everted rim, the exterior painted in polychrome enamels with four oval medallions filled with miniature portraits of courtly couples and idealised landscapes with a bridge and an imamzadeh building, all set within a thin brass frame against a cobalt blue ground and interspersed with floral and foliate motifs, the top and bottom decorated with beaded bands of raised light blue enamel, 7cm diam. and 6.2cm high.