*A QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PANEL: SHIRIN VISITING FARHAD ON MOUNT BISOTUN PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION Iran, 19th century Of rectangular shape, the horizontal composition polychrome-painted and lacquered with a scene from Nizami's Khosrow o Shirin, the city walls and gates visible in the background, the queen and the multitude of her female attendants all riding au cheval, the male guards wielding sticks and accompanied by hounds in the foreground, the carver Farhad to the left lifting his eyes expressing his coy nature and at the same time his anticipation to the meeting, within a border of stylised floral motifs, mounted, framed and glazed, 40cm x 59.5cm, 62cm x 80.5cm including the frame. This naive panel is a charming fresco of the incredible range and colourful variety of Qajar costume and textiles, from the parasol over Shirin's aigretted head, to the head-coverings of the female retinue and the saddle-rugs, to Farhad's trousers. Despite the strong Western influence and the pictorial devices in the composition, such as Farhad's dogs symbolising his loyalty, and the axes by the basket-load and in his hands prefiguring his tragic demise, the narrative still moves from right to left in the Persian style. A similar composition in vertical rather than horizontal format can be seen on a cover for a poetical anthology in Massumeh Farhad, Mary McWilliams and Simon Rettig, A Collector’s Passion: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Washington DC, 2017, p. 59, inv. no. 2014.401.