Page 54 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

TWO QAJAR PORTRAITS PAINTED FOR THE IMARAT-I SADR, ISFAHAN

Hajji Muhammad Husayn Khan (1758-1823) was a native of Isfahan and came originally When the two paintings of Anushirwan and Chingiz Khan were exhibited in London in
from a family of vegetable sellers. Beginning his career as a warehouse manager, he rose 1999, Julian Raby suggested that the name noted by Texier as ‘Shah Djihoun’ should
through various titles to end up as governor of the cities of Isfahan, Qum, and Kashan, probably be interpreted as the 15th century Qaraquyunlu ruler Jahanshah (Julian Raby,
with the title Amin al-Dawla and eventually Sadr-i `Azam (Heidi Walcher, Face of the Qajar Portraits, London and New York, 1999, nos.115 and 116, pp.49-51). Although he
Seven Spheres: The Urban Morphology and Architecture of Nineteenth Century Isfahan does not immediately spring to mind as one of the heroes of Iranian popular history, there
(Part Two), Iranian Studies, vol.34, nos.1-4, pp.117-139, esp. pp.117-19). More than anybody seemed to be no other Iranian candidate with this name. Similarly, when the portrait of
else it was he who was responsible for the renovation of this historic city in the early Farrukh Siyar was sold previously, its Indian subject and the lack of a date alongside the
Qajar period. He restored many of the Safavid buildings while also building new streets, signature meant that the link was not made with the Imarat-i Sadr project. The image
gardens, and palaces. One of the new buildings that was most remarked on was the of Shah Jahan however clearly bears the same date as the larger Persian portraits and
Imarat-i Sadr or Imarat-i Naw. While sometimes under a different name, it was commented both have a very similar band below the window aperture. The note that ‘Shah Djihoun’
on as an outstanding example of contemporary architecture and decoration by most of was part of the commission confirms that there was clearly a second sub-series
the early European travelers who visited the city, including James Morier in 1809 (James commissioned for the palace, on a slightly smaller scale, from the same artist, depicting
Justinian Morier, A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Mughal monarchs.
the Years 1808 and 1809, London, 1812, p.167), Sir William Ouseley in 1810-12 (Sir Wlliam
Gore Ouseley, Travels in various countries of the East, more particularly Persia, London, vol.
III, 1823, pp.26-27), and Charles Texier in 1839 (Charles Texier, Description de l'Arménie et By this time within India the images of the Mughal emperors had become completely
de la Perse, de la Mésopotamie, Paris, 1842, pp.128-129). standardized, reproduced many times, either as individual one-off portraits, as series of
individual paintings depicting the various Mughal rulers, or as group ancestral portraits.
Shah Jahan is a well-known icon, invariably depicted in profile with a chisel-like beard
The palace was built by Muhammad Husayn Khan very shortly after Fath `Ali Shah had that greys as he ages. In our paintings there is no attempt at all to copy any likeness,
come to the throne, as part of a new dynasty that had only very recently taken control despite that it must have been relatively simple to obtain one. Rather, the Mughal
over the whole country. The palace, when finished, was given as an offering to this new emperors are depicted as young, inexperienced and beardless, attractive young men.
monarch, encouraging him to visit the city. While Fath `Ali Shah is not known to have Is this a later Persian reversal of the famous Indian depiction of Jahangir being subtly
taken possession, much of the interior was clearly decorated to enhance this vain ruler’s much more powerful than Shah `Abbas? (Freer Gallery, now the National Gallery of
prestige. All three European authors comment on the extraordinary pictorial program of Asian Art, Washington DC, inv.nos. F1942.16a and particularly F1945.9a. https://asia.
the palace. The main room had at its ends two massive depictions of the monarch, one si.edu/object/F1945.9a/) In the intervening decades Nadir Shah had conquered Delhi,
enthroned, the other out hunting. These were surrounded by depictions of rulers of the demonstrating the weakness of Mughal power, and brought back the Mughal treasury
past, both historical and from the Shahnama. Morier refers to Jamshid, Chinghiz Khan and to Isfahan, as well as a Mughal taste that began to pervade Iranian design in the 18th
Timur; Ouseley notes Feridun, Iskandar and Anushirwan; Texier cites Jamshid, Afrasiyab, century. By 1802 when Mihr `Ali was commissioned to paint this series, there was no
Genghis Khan and ‘Shah Djihoun’. In addition to detailing some of the subjects, Ouseley threat from India; it was by then pretty much under British control. Despite the lack of
also notes that the artist was the ‘celebrated artist’ Mihr `Ali. The patron must have invited attempted facial verisimilitude, the coat and shawl are clearly Indian, as is the turban,
this favoured court artist from his home city of Tehran to complete the cycle, further and a prominent katar dagger, a form completely unknown in Iran and therefore slightly
honouring the shah. misunderstood, is pushed into the waist sash.
The palace, having not been used by the shah, was allowed during the ensuing century to Mihr `Ali, more than anybody else, was the artist who created the public image of Fath `Ali
fall into disrepair, and was then demolished in the early 20th century under the orders of Shah. While the slightly older artist Mirza Baba also painted a number of portraits of the
Zill al-Sultan, Mas`ud Mirza, the eldest son of Nasir al-Din Shah who was the governor shah, they tend to be more personal and possibly more sensitive, such as the spectacular
of Isfahan 1874-1906, a sad process described in detail by Majd al-Islam (Ahmad Majid image in the Indian Office Library (British Library, London, inv.no.F116). It was Mihr `Ali
al-Islami Kirmani, Tarikh-i inqilab-i mashrutiyat-i Iran, 1967, p.131, noted by Willem Floor, whose paintings fully concentrated on the monarch as icon, famously copying the stance
‘The Talar-i Tavila or Hall of Stables, a Forgotten Safavid Palace’, Muqarnas: An Annual used by Jacques-Louis David in his depiction of Napoleon wearing his coronation robes
on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World, XIX, 2002, pp.149-163 esp.note 67, p.163). For (Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, original sketch). Copying an example that goes back to the
many decades nothing was known or recorded about the paintings that decorated the Roman emperors, Napoleon had had various versions of this painting created, such that
interior and it was thought that they were lost. However in 1985 two appeared for sale examples, often by Francois Gerard, are in Moscow (Pushkin Museum), Berlin (Deutsches
at Christie’s. Depicting Anushirwan and Chinghiz Khan, two figures cited by the 19th Historisches Museum), Naples (Capodimonte Museum), Vienna (Hofburg) and Amsterdam
century authorities, each identified and signed by Mihr `Ali, exactly as noted by Ouseley, (Rijksmuseum). This became another feature of Mihr `Ali’s images, which were circulated
these had to have been a part of this renowned commission (Christie’s London, Islamic, to diplomats and the courts of Europe and India and thus are now similarly widespread. All
Indian and South-East Asian Manuscripts, Miniatures and Works of Art, 4 July 1985, lots his images, whether the shah is standing in Napoleonic pose, seated in a chair in armour, or
197 and 198; sold again Christie’s London, Islamic Art and Indian Miniatures, 20 October seated in traditional pose leaning against a pearl-encrusted cushion, clearly demonstrating
1992, lots 289 and 290). Since then a further painting from the same series has appeared, his beard, his waist and his wealth, emphasize his importance. Mihr 'Ali's placing of the
somewhat reduced and now lacking the signature, but clearly identified as Kay Khusraw king surrounded by the famous previous kings of Iran again emphasizes the same, which is
and of the same format (Christie’s London, Islamic Art and Indian Miniatures, 14 October especially relevant given how new the dynasty was at the time. Our two portraits of Indian
1997, lot 160; sold again Christie’s London, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 17 April emperors clearly add another dimension to the political message intended by this most
2007, lot 287), while a fourth example appeared at Sotheby’s more recently, identified as skilled early 19th century royal artist in his most famous commission.
Jamshid (Sotheby’s London, Arts of the Islamic World, 7 October 2015, lot 300).

Portrait of Chinghiz Khan by Portrait of Afrasiyab, King of
Mihr ‘Ali, Christie’s, London, Turan, by Mihr ‘Ali, Christie’s,
20 October 1992, lot 289 London, 20 October 1992,
lot 290
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