* A PAIR OF LARGE OIL PAINTINGS WITH FEMALE PORTRAITS AND FLORAL TRIUMPH
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Iran, 20th century

Oil on canvas, heightened with gold pigment, the large vertical composition on a canvas in the shape of an ogival arch, the pair matching with very minor variations, depicting a central portrait roundel with an Europeanised Qajar lady wearing a white veil and holding a lute, around her neck a string of pearls, her portrait encased within an altar of Baroque flare, each niche, vase and tray filled with fresh floral bouquets of roses, irises, poppies, carnations and daisies, and bunches of ripe grapes, further vine trellis at the top of the arch, three pairs of yellow birds flanking the vases and floral triumph, varnished, stretched and mounted, each approximately 157cm x 84cm.