AN ALBUM PAGE WITH A GOL-O-BOLBOL STUDY
Qajar Iran, dated 1252 AH (1836) and signed Lotf 'Ali

Opaque pigments, pencil, and black ink on wove paper, the vertical composition depicting the study of a bird perched on the branch of a rose bush, a typical Persian literary topos referred to as gol-o-bolbol (the rose and the nightingale), signed and dated on the lower left corner in red ink, stamped twice in black ink on the opposite right and left corners, mounted on a cardboard frame with concentric borders in polychromes, with another stamp and inscription in black ink at the top, the page 34cm x 24cm.

The rectangular maker's stamp on the lower right corner reads: Abd Ar-Raji Lotfali 12(00?), possibly Lotf 'Ali Suratgar Shirazi (active 1802 - 1871)

The oval ownership stamps on the upper left corners (both folio and mount) read: Nizam Al-Mulk 118(0)

The inscription at the top of the mount suggests that this album page was gifted by the Qajar prince-governor, author, and bibliophile. Mo'tamed al-Dawla (1818 - 1888), the fifteenth son of Abbas Mirza and uncle of Nasir al-Din Shah, to Mirza Ali Asghar Khan (1858 - 1907), the last Prime Minister of Iran under Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar.

Lotf 'Ali was one of the leading Qajar painters from Shiraz in the mid-19th century. He was well-versed in watercolour studies on paper, manuscript illustrations, as well as lacquer wares. It seems he was related to Hajji Mushir al-Mulk, the six-time governor of Fars from 1846 - 7 until 1882. His flower studies were unrivalled at his time: his style has been called 'realistic' due to the great attention to detail and naturalistic rendering. His works are always inscribed with his characteristic signature in tughra form, similar to the one present on our lot (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson, and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands: Part One, p. 206).