A PICTORIAL QALAMKARI HANGING
Isfahan, Iran, early 20th century

The length of cotton printed and painted with a delicate border in reds and ochres, the painted niche framing the full-length image of a turbaned and mustachioed officer in Cossack uniform, the top printed with lines from Sa'di's Sonnet 10, stamped 'Iran, Isfahan, Golshan, the factory of Mohammad Reza and Mohammad Taqi Akhavan Cheet Saz' (chintz maker brothers), 235cm x 88cm.

This naïve and charming hanging exemplifies the omnipresence of the Persian Cossack Brigade, the cavalry unit formed in 1879 and styled after the Imperial Russian Army cavalry units. An effective and influential force of king-makers, the Cossacks played a pivotal role in the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911, the rise of Reza Shah and the consequential foundation of the Pahlavi Dynasty. The turban, aigrette and the hairstyle are clearly Persian but they differ from the iconic image of Reza Shah's times, pointing to a date earlier than his ascension to the throne in 1926.