FOUR WATERCOLOUR PORTRAITS OF QAJAR BEAUTIES
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Opaque pigments, ink, and white wash heightened with gold on paper, comprising two full-length standing portraits of Qajar maidens, dressed in typical attires with striped termeh jackets enhanced with gem-studded golden bazubands, with matching striped termeh caps, one drinking from a cup and the latter playing a traditional Persian fretted instrument, possibly a setar or tanbur, the first inscribed in black ink on the bottom left Shodam Az Jahan... Ghulam Ali 1258 AH (1842), the outer floral border decorated with the nakhuni finger-nail printing technique, mounted, framed, and glazed, 19cm x 12.5cm excluding the frame; the latter unframed, 22cm x 14cm; another similar portrait, possibly from an album, depicting a couple in an interior, mounted on a cardboard frame, 23.8cm x 17cm excluding the frame; and the fourth portrait with a maiden seated on a Western high chair or sofa, dressed in a more conservative attire with a white chador with floral embroideries, signed on the lower left corner in red Raqm-e Yahya and dated 1278 AH (1861), mounted, framed, and glazed, 19.2cm x 15cm excluding the frame.