TWO PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHS OF MORTEZA KHAN, MUMTAZ AL-MULK, BY THE PERSIAN PHOTOGRAPHER ABDULLAH MIRZA QAJAR
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILE
Iran, ca. 1890 - 1895

Albumen prints laid on board, the smaller portrait presenting Morteza Khan Mumtaz al-Mulk, one of the most prominent statesmen in Qajar times, seated, clad in a collarless coat and round Astrakhan fur hat, hands clasped, against a European background hanging, the lower margin inscribed in black ink in Persian ‘special photographer’ and ‘Abdullah Qajar’, 14.5cm x 10.3cm, 33cm x 28cm including the mount; and the larger portrait of the standing statesman in European double-breasted coat, slightly pointed Astrakhan fur hat, white gloves in one hand, a rosebud in the other, the mount window cut to reveal the self-identification inscription in Persian: ‘dated the month of Rajab 1312 AH (December 1894 - January 1895), at the age of 30, B J Morteza’, inscribed Morteza Khan Mumtaz al-Mulk, and 'the special photographer Abdullah Qajar', 20.2cm x 15cm, 33cm x 27.7cm including the mount.

The sitter: Morteza Khan Mumtaz al-Mulk (1865 - 1925) scaled the ranks from Qajar page boy to courtier to ambassador, benevolent statesman, and cabinet minister in a meteoric fashion. Following two years from the mission to the United States as Minister plenipotentiary (1904 - 1906), he served as Minister of Education in Iran. Highlights of this tenure include the founding of the National Museum of Iran in 1917, and the first hospital for women. He further distinguished himself as Minister of Justice in 1923.

The photographer: Abdullah Mirza Qajar (1849 - 1908), the Qajar court photographer, himself a grandson of Fath Ali Shah, studied and later taught photography at the Dar al Funun Academy, Nasir al-Din Shah's elite polytechnic school, the first of its kind in Iran. The boulevardier prince studied in Paris, Vienna, and Salzburg in the late 1870s. Upon his return to Iran, he pursued a career in cartography and printing, but soon turned to the more lucrative business of photography. From 1883, he was employed at Nasir al-Din Shah’s court, travelling all over Persia, documenting traditional towns, landscapes, and all aspects of daily life. After the death of the Shah in 1896, he continued in his post during the early years of Mozaffar al-Din Shah’s reign, accompanying the Shah on his European trips in 1900 and 1903.