Arts of the Islamic World
Arts of the Islamic World
TWO QAJAR LACQUER MIRROR CASES, PERSIA, 19TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
October 23, 04:16 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
TWO QAJAR LACQUER MIRROR CASES, PERSIA, 19TH CENTURY
both rectangular form, one with removable cover, the interior depicting Ali with his two sons Hasan and Hussein, missing mirror, cartouche with stamp of maker's name, and the other with hinged cover revealing the depiction of an iris flower surrounded by calligraphic cartouches, including maker's name and date, and a mirror, both with exteriors decorated with birds and butterflies within a floral setting
(2)
29.6 by 18.5 by 1.6cm; 29.8 by 18.4 by 1.8cm.
inscriptions
One case:
In the cartouches:
Couplets from a tarji’-band of Sa’di and one couplet from a ghazal of his.
Signed: ‘Its maker (sani’uhu) Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Muhammad Husayn al-Isfahani’
Although the lacquer painter Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Muhammad Husayn al-Isfahani is not recorded, the case maker’s seal impressions have been seen on many pen-boxes of the second half of the nineteenth century.
Dated Dhi-qa’dah (sic) 1207 AH(?) (June-July 1793 AD). This date should most probably be read as 1307 AH (June-July 1890 AD)’
The other case:
‘The hopeful servant (of God) Muhammad Javad 1272 AH (1856-57 AD)’
See Khalili, Robinson & Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol.2, p.258. Karimzadeh Tabrizi records his seal on other pieces and has given its date 1286 AH (1870-71 AD) (Karimzadeh Tabrizi, vol.2, pp.683-4).