Matthew Thomas
Senior Specialist
Lot 67R
A Qajar lacquer penbox (qalamdan) depicting the Madonna and Child after Sassoferrato, by Abbas Shirazi Persia, dated AH 1278/AD 1861-62
26 October 2020, 11:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £1,785 inc. premium
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A Qajar lacquer penbox (qalamdan) depicting the Madonna and Child after Sassoferrato, by Abbas Shirazi
Persia, dated AH 1278/AD 1861-62
Persia, dated AH 1278/AD 1861-62
with rounded ends and sliding tray, decorated in polychrome and gilt with a cartouche containing Madonna and Child flanked by portrait medallions containing a date and signature, the sides with nudes flanked by portrait medallions, further cartouches with floral sprays, the base and sides of the inner tray with scrolling vines
22.3 cm. long.
22.3 cm. long.
Footnotes
Provenance
Private UK collection.
Inscriptions: kamtarin 'abbas shirazi, 'The most humble 'Abbas Shirazi', 'the year 1278 (AD 1861-2)'.
The depiction of the Madonna and Child is after a composition by the 17th Century Italian painter, Giovanni Battista Salvi, il Sassoferrato, of which a number of versions exist, one in the St. Louis Art Museum, USA.
Nothing is known about 'Abbas's life, other than his recorded work and that he was a painter of portraits, flowers and illuminations. His recorded works include lacquered pen boxes and a watercolour painting dated between 1277 (AD 1860-1) and 1292 (AD 1875-6). (See M. A. Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives & Art of Old Painters of Iran, vol. 1, London, 1985, pp. 293-5 and Khalili, Robinson and Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, 1997, cat. nos. 343-8, and p. 262, nos. 343-8 for examples of his different signatures.
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