TWO PORTRAITS OF QAJAR YOUTHS IN WESTERN ATTIRE
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Qajar Iran, dated Dhu'l Hijja 1267 AH (September - October 1851 AD), signed Mirza Jani Tabrizi

Opaque pigments, pencil and ink on cut-out paper in the shape of tri-lobed palmettes, the vertical compositions depicting two large bust portraits of a young maiden and gentleman dressed in European fashion, their hairstyles and accessories matching Western canons as well, their physiognomy typically associated with Qajar models showing rosebud-shaped lips, tiny, curved noses, perfectly arched, dark eyebrows, and wide, almond-shaped eyes, in the background tinted drawings of cities reminiscent of 18th and 19th-century sketches by Western travellers and Indian Company School artists, each portrait signed Mirza Jani Tabrizi and dated Dhu'l Hijja 1267 AH in black ink on the right-hand-side, mounted on white cardboard, each 23.5cm high.