A SAFAVID-REVIVAL TINTED DRAWING OF A MONGOL WARRIOR AND A SAFAVID ILLUMINATED BORDER WITH ANIMALS
Iran, respectively 19th century and 16th - 17th century

Comprising a standing portrait of a Mongol warrior, pen and ink drawing on paper with highlights in opaque pigments, the style honouring Safavid Isfahan School productions and inspired by Riza 'Abbasi's creations, the subject characterised by his Central Asian features, his long beard and almond-shaped eyes emphasising his Turkic-Mongolian origin, wearing a fur hat and high pointy boots, framed within a densely illuminated blue paper border enhanced with scenes of Safavid hunting riders confronting bears and wild animals, interspersed amidst rocky natural landscapes with rosette stems and Chinese-style clouds, set within red and gold rules, mounted on a light brown cardboard border, the drawing 16.5cm x 8.5cm, 42.5cm x 31.2cm including the mount; and a finely illuminated album page border decorated with gold wild animals including a qilin, a simurgh, a bear, a lion, and a pair of gazelles in a lush natural landscape with blossoming stems, tufts of green, foliate branches and rosette bouquets, the reverse plain, 36.3cm x 23.5cm.