A Miniature of Abdülmecid I (r.1839 - 1861) in a diamond- and ruby-set Frame, second half 19th Century

the watercolour set in a round gilt frame mounted with a row of diamonds to each side, leafy scrolls to top and bottom, featuring a ruby stone to top and bottom, with hook above

In good condition, as viewed.
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The present portrait is in the style of mid-nineteenth-century portraits of Sultan Abdülmecid drawn by Jean Portet and Josef Manas. It belongs to a small group of miniatures better known as tasvir-i humayun. The closest example, painted by Jean Portet in 1850, is in the Topkapi Palace Museum (inv.no. 17/215), Istanbul (see Portrait of the Sultan, exhib.cat., Turkiye Is Bankasi, Istanbul, 2000, p.510). Sultan Abdulmecid's miniature portraits appear to follow the miniature portraits depicting his father Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-1839). Spanish miniature painter Marras, who worked for Mahmud II, produced the earliest examples of miniature portraits for the Ottoman court. A miniature portrait of Sultan Mahmud II, signed Marras, is preserved in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul (17/208). The present miniature is a fine example of the tasvir-i humayun production both in terms of its dimensions and brush quality. The portrait is in its original frame bejeweled with diamonds and rubies.