Nadir Shah Afshar, signed by Mirza Jani. A.D. 1779 Sotheby's

Sotheby's Auctions » Arts of the Islamic World, including 20th Century Middle Eastern Paintings » lot 35 Sale L03220 Mounted portrait of Nadir Shah Afshar, signed by Mirza Jani, dated 4th Safar A.H.1193 (?)/21st February A.D.1779 London, Bond Street 5,000—7,000 GBP Session 1 30 Apr 03 10:30 AM MEASUREMENTS drawing 38.7 by 26.4cm. DESCRIPTION ink and wash on paper, laid down on an album page, a thin strip of black paper along three edges Mirza Jani is known as a watercolour artist and siyah qalam of the Afsharid and Zandi periods. One of his recorded siyah qalam work is another mounted portrait of Nadir Shah dated 1170/1756-7 and measuring 30 by 20cm. Like the present work the signature of this work is said to be very faint (Karimzadeh 1991, Vol.3, p.1289). An interesting comparison to the present drawing is a watercolour of Nadir Shah on horseback, now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Diba & Ekhtiar 1998, p.143-4, no.22). Although the Boston Museum piece is a more finished work, both show similarities notably in the depiction of the horse. The pose of Nadir Shah is also comparable and stylistically the two works show a strong and similar sense for volumes. The Boston Museum watercolour is unsigned and undated but it has been suggested that it is a work of Muhammad Ali, grandson of the celebrated artist Ali Quli Jabbadar, dating from the mid-18th century.

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