PORTRAIT OF A QAJAR LADY ATTRIBUTABLE TO MIRZA BABA

Project Details

PORTRAIT OF A QAJAR LADY ATTRIBUTABLE TO MIRZA BABA

Qajar Persia.

Circa 1810.

127 x 86 cm (unframed)

140 x 110 cm. (framed)

Oil on canvas. Court lady depicted seated with her left hand raised directing herself as if she wishes to attract the viewer’s attention. She wears a skirt with stripes and a cream silk shirt and jewels richly decorated with pearls.

Court painting in late Zand and early Qajar Persia gave particular importance to the representation of women. From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, royal artists were attracted by European depictions of female subjects, borrowing certain poses, imagery and stylistic techniques into their own work. This elaborate oil painting embodies these influences elegantly. The luxuriously-dressed lady is portrayed wearing a stunning pearl necklace and cap embroidered with pearls. The painting is particularly fine in its treatment of the textiles, with its different layers, varied palette, textures and heavy jewelled ornamentation all increasing the decorative effect (for a discussion of Persian costume of the period see ‘Vesture and Dress; Fashion, Function and Impact’ in Carol Bier (ed)., Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, Washington DC., 1987).

The painting captures the late Zand, early Qajar ideal of beauty, specifically in the maiden’s ‘joined eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, puckered lips and flamboyant hairdos’ (L.S. Diba and M. Ekhtiar (eds.), Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, I. B. Tauris, 1998, pp. 206-7).

Although the painting is unsigned and undated, it is attributable to Mirza Baba, an artist who specialised in pictures of members of the court including courtesans. For a comparable oil painting with two similarly dressed court ladies, attributed to Mirza Baba, in the collection of the Royal Asiatic Society (01.002), London, see ibid, p. 206-7, no. 57. Mirza Baba was a court painter from the imami family of Isfahan who worked at the court in Tehran during the reigns of Aga Mohammad Khan Qajar (1789-1797) and Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (1797-1834). He is also celebrated for his still life paintings and portraits like the present painting.

Provenance

Ex-Monsieur R. Guillaume Collection, by repute acquired from the Kelekian Collection in the 1930s.

Categories: Orientalist Paintings

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

PORTRAIT OF A QAJAR LADY ATTRIBUTABLE TO MIRZA BABA

Enquiries