TWO PORTRAITS OF QAJAR COUPLES
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Iran, 19th century

Opaque pigments, ink and pencil on paper, the vertical compositions portraying two Qajar couples, one set in an interior, the lovers wearing brightly coloured termeh jackets, the woman wearing a fine pearl necklace and an elaborate diamond-encrusted tiara with bejewelled aigrette, on the lower left corner an inscription in red ink reading Abu-l Hasan Ghaffari, also known as Sani al Mulk, a likely later attribution, and the date 1261 AH (1845), pasted onto thicker cardboard, 33cm x 24.5cm; and the latter with a seated couple on a colourful floorspread against large bolsters, the woman wearing a more conservative attire with a chador and a plain string of pearls around her head with heron feathers as aigrette, a line of black ink nasta'liq script calligraphy against a marbled ground above the portrait, the calligraphy an extract from Sa'di, Sonnet 309, pasted onto later cream and light blue album page borders, 34cm x 26.8cm.