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Qalamdan with portraits of the great Persian Sufi masters, s…
See original version (French)
55
-
Qalamdan with portraits of the great Persian Sufi masters, s…
See original version (French)
Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Qalamdan with portraits of the great Persian Sufi masters, signed Javad
Qajar Iran, 19th century
A lacquered papier-mâché pencil box with black reserve painted decoration on a golden-brown background; elongated with rounded ends. The lid is decorated with a central scene depicting a dervish seated in a landscape, framed by floral compositions and figured cartouches. The sides display four poly-lobed medallions, each containing one or two figures identified in Persian, alternating with floral scrolls in the gol-o-bolbol style. Signed under the lid.
Condition: chips and wear.
Size: 23 x 3.5 cm (9.1 x 1.4 in.)
Identification in Persian (by medallion)
"Shaykh 'Attar" - Farid al-Din 'Attar (d. 1221), Persian mystic poet; "Mir Ma'sum 'Ali Shah" and "Nur 'Ali Shah" - Ni'matullahi masters of the late 18th century; "Shaykh Sa'di" - Sa'di of Shiraz (d. 1291) - and 'Sultan Salim'; 'Mawlavi' - Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273) - and 'Shams [al-Din] Tabrizi', his spiritual guide.
Provenance:
Private collection, Paris, acquired at Rosebery's sale, London, 29 April 2022, lot 91.
This pen box is a visual pantheon of the Persian Sufi tradition, displaying side by side the great figures of Iranian mysticism spanning nearly six centuries: medieval poet-saints as well as the great Sufi masters, suggesting that it was commissioned by circles affiliated with the Ni'matullahi brotherhood, which flourished under the Qajars.
The signature "Work of the very humble Javad" probably refers to Mohammad Javad Esfahani, a painter-lacquerer from Isfahan who was active during the Qajar period (cf. Mohammad Ali Karimzadeh Tabrizi, Old Painters of Iran, vol. I, 1991, p. 138, no. 239).
A Qajar lacquered papier-mâché qalamdan (pen box) with dervish figures, signed and titled - the signature probably referring to Mohammad Javad Esfahani, a noted Qajar lacquer painter from Isfahan, Iran, Qajar, 19th century.
A symbol of literate power, the qalamdān embodies writing as an instrument of literate authority, while the mirror opens up a more introspective register, where the image dialogues with the reflection. In the Iran of the Zand and Qajar periods, these pieces went beyond their function to become part of a visual imagination at the crossroads of the book arts and painting.
Floral decoration, inherited from Safavid bindings, plays a central role: roses, irises and hyacinths interact with birds and butterflies in the aesthetic of gol-o-bolbol, a metaphor for love and the quest. This vocabulary, disseminated by the workshops, found its way to several great masters such as Muhammad Zaman, who introduced a new vocabulary, nourished by European influences, that left a lasting mark on Safavid painting at the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century, Muhammad Baqir made a name for himself with the finesse of his floral and animal compositions, while Muhammad Sadiq developed figurative scenes of great narrative richness, combining hunting, landscape and literary imagery.
Taken together, these objects reveal a refined art, somewhere between tradition and reinvention, where each surface becomes the medium for a complex and intellectual narrative.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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