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Lot 106

A group of erotic Qajar playing Cards
Persia, circa 1850-60
(25)

8 October 2013, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £3,750 inc. premium

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A group of erotic Qajar playing Cards
Persia, circa 1850-60

papier-mache board, in five different sets, a quantity depicting a man and a woman in an erotic embrace set within an oval frame of gild scrollwork; a figure on horseback and his groom; lions mating, in a red leather case
6cm. x 4cm.(25)

Footnotes

Examples of both erotic scenes between a man and a woman are in the Khalili Collection, London. Erotic playing cards may have been used in 'gentlemanly' circles, but they clearly acquired a secondary use as independent erotica as shown by one example which is mounted as an album. (see N. Khalili, B.W. Robinson, T. Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, Oxford University Press, 1997, cat nos. 321 and 327.

Additional information