TWO QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ MIRROR CASES
Iran, 19th century

Comprising a mirror case of rectangular shape, polychrome-painted, heightened in gold and lacquered, the front and back decorated with an almost identical composition despite minor variations, featuring a gathering of pious men, mostly wearing conical Sufi dervish hats and long robes, two male characters at the top differentiating themselves by wearing folded turbans, the one on the right wearing a green turban and flanked by a lion, possibly identified as Imam 'Ali (the "Lion of God"), the composition on the back missing the lion, the reverse of the front cover presenting a recurrent scene in Qajar lacquer with a pious man drafting a contract under candlelight at night, set within a white ink nasta'liq script frame against a deep red ground, 30.8cm x 20cm; and a similar mirror case, of smaller size, the front decorated with an enthroned Qajar prince granting audience to a courtly emissary or ambassador, the back depicting a variation of the gathering of Sufi dervishes and Imam 'Ali with lion as in the previous mirror case, set within a frame of white ink shikasteh nasta'liq script calligraphic cartouches on red ground, and the reverse of the front cover presenting two courtly audience scenes, the lower one with the Persian epic hero Rustam, the latter with a haloed character wearing a green turban and seated next to a large white rooster, possibly identified as Prophet Muhammad, more nasta'liq inscriptions on the outer frame, 25.5cm x 17cm.

First inscription:

السلطان ابن السلطان ابن السلطان و الخاقان ابن الخاقان ابن الخاقان
السلطان ناصرالدین شاه قاجار
کارخانه جناب سید محمد اصفهانی

The King, son of a King, son of a King, and the Ruler, son of a Ruler, son a Ruler, (praise upon) the King Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar
From the Atelier of Mr. Seyyed Muhammad Isfahani

The second inscription quotes a poem about the face of the beloved: "The only thing that would be worth putting before, it is a mirror[...]".