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Lot Essay
This qalamdan is decorated with scenes from the Shahnama, the Khamsa of Nizami and portraits of kings and holy men, all with written identifications. On the centre of the lid is a portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah. Amongst others, there are also representations of Bahram Gur in the pavilions of the various princesses, an old woman carrying a cow out from the court of Anushirvan, Sheikh Baha'i taming a lion, Ibrahim Adham throwing his mother's needle in the sea, Shams-e Tabrizi with Jalal al-Din Rumi throwing his books in the river and portraits of Alexander, Anushirva, 'Attar and Shah Nur 'Ali.
The qalamdan is signed raqm-e kamtarin Haydar 'Ali 1294. Haydar 'Ali was son of the artist Muhammad Isma'il naqqashbashi was renowned for painting qalamdans with Nasir al-Din Shah and courtiers of the period. For his biography and a list of works, see Mohammad Ali Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran and a Selection of Masters from the Ottoman and Indian Regions (London, 1985, vol. 1, pp.163-64). A pencase decorated with portraits of Sheikh Baha'i and various other Sufis which is attributed to Haydar 'Ali is in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W.Robinson and Tim Stanley, Laquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, London, 1997, p.39-41, no.236).
The qalamdan is signed raqm-e kamtarin Haydar 'Ali 1294. Haydar 'Ali was son of the artist Muhammad Isma'il naqqashbashi was renowned for painting qalamdans with Nasir al-Din Shah and courtiers of the period. For his biography and a list of works, see Mohammad Ali Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives and Art of Old Painters of Iran and a Selection of Masters from the Ottoman and Indian Regions (London, 1985, vol. 1, pp.163-64). A pencase decorated with portraits of Sheikh Baha'i and various other Sufis which is attributed to Haydar 'Ali is in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W.Robinson and Tim Stanley, Laquer of the Islamic Lands, Part Two, London, 1997, p.39-41, no.236).