A POLYCHROME-ENAMELLED PORTRAIT MEDALLION OF FATH ALI SHAH'S SON, MUHAMMAD ALI MIRZA QAJAR
PROPERTY FROM A LONDON COLLECTION OF IRANIAN ART
Qajar Iran, ca. 1820 - 1830, signed Ghulam Khanzadeh Ali

Of drop-like shape, polychrome-painted and gilt, the sitter identified as Prince Muhammad Ali Mirza Dawlatshah Qajar (1789 - 1821), the eldest son of Fath Ali Shah (1772 - 1834) and powerful prince-governor of the Western Provinces of Iran, the identifying inscription in black nasta'liq script gathered in a cusped golden medallion on the upper right, the artist's signature on the lower left reading Ghulam-i Khanzadeh Ali, the reverse covered with monochrome turquoise enamel, the later brass mount with hanging loop and pin attachment, 6.8cm x 5.3cm.

Provenance:

Sotheby’s London, 10 October 1991, lot 858

Christie's London, 27 April 2017, lot 127

Among Fath Ali Shah's many children, Muhammad Ali Mirza and Abbas Mirza were the eldest and grew up only seven months apart. Due to the humble origins of his Georgian mother, Muhammad Ali Mirza was hardly in line as Fath Ali Shah's next heir to the throne, a factor which later contributed to a prolonged succession crisis in the Qajar house. Nevertheless, Muhammad Ali Mirza distinguished himself as a loyal supporter of his father's rule; as a brave and strategic military commander in several military ventures against the Ottomans; and as an enlightened prince-governor of the Fars and Kermanshah Provinces. His impressive military and diplomatic records were not incongruent with his cultural refinement and political competence. Under his rule, the Western Provinces enjoyed an exceptional period of prosperity, social calm and ethnic poli-culturalism, enhanced by trade and pilgrim traffic, as well as by the expansion of the rich agricultural base. For further information on Muhammad Ali Mirza's life, please see the Encyclopaedia Iranica entry dedicated to him: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dawlatsah-mohammad-ali-mirza (last accessed, 27/09/2022).

For another portrait of him, please see Sotheby’s London, 28 April 1993, lot 29. An analogous enamelled portrait of Fath Ali Shah was sold at Christie's London, 4 October 2012, lot 157.