A PAIR OF LARGE LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ BOOK COVERS
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Of rectangular shape, once paired, the decorative program mirrored in the front and back of each cover and centred on the theme of banqueting and entertainment, each outer side with a Safavid-revival Imami-style portrait, one with a Central Asian lady with typical 'moon face', wearing a tight headscarf and a long-sleeved, gold-embroidered robe, and the latter with an elegantly dressed youth, possibly a saqi (cup-bearer), holding two drinking bottles in his hands, each character surrounded by idealised landscapes livened with animals, birds, and group gatherings with figures drinking, playing music, and reading, reminiscent of Imami school lacquer creations, each inner side with a large oval cartouche depicting a banquet scene in a mountainous landscape, both scenes with the male characters offering a drink to their female counterparts, set within a black ground with a gold-painted decorative border, each mounted and glazed in a double-faced frame, each cover 36cm x 23.5cm excluding the frame.