A portrait of a lady, Persia, Safavid or Afsharid, 17th century

oil on canvas, in a gilt-wood frame

Only a small number of Safavid oil portraits have survived until the present day. The most obvious reason for their existence was to decorate the houses of the Persian aristocracy and the wealthy Armenian merchants in Isfahan and New Julfa. The existence of stylistically similar wall-paintings in New Julfa supports this theory, but the existence of so few extant free-hanging portraits of this style indicates that perhaps these were considered the most prestigious works of art with which to decorate one's house and with which to show off one's wealth and, importantly, one's fashionable appreciation of international cultural influences.

The list of published paintings from the group to which the present painting belongs is as follows:

1. A lady in Persian dress standing in an interior (formerly in the Negaristan Museum, Tehran, now transferred to the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts, Tehran; Colnaghi, 1976, no. 137; Bier 1987; fig. 3; Grube and Sims 1989, no. 39, p.222; Keikavusi, fig.2).

2. A gentleman in Persian dress standing in an interior (formerly in the Negaristan Museum, Tehran, now transferred to the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts, Tehran; Colnaghi, 1976; no. 138, Bier, 1987; fig. 4; Keikavusi, fig.3).

3. A gentleman standing in an interior holding a bow and arrow (private collection, London; Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no. 17; Adle 1996, fig. 15, described as 'Le gardien de I'arc royal georgien').

4. Portrait of a European dignitary (Museum of Islamic Arts, Doha; Sotheby's, London, 15th October 1997; lot 35).

5. Portrait of lady (probably Armenian) standing in a richly ornamented interior (Museum of Islamic Arts, Doha; Sotheby's 15th October 1998, lot 69).

6. A lady in Persian dress standing in a landscape holding a wine flask (formerly in the Negaristan Museum, Tehran, now transferred to the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts. Tehran; Colnaghi 1976, no. 139).

7. A lady in Persian dress standing in a landscape holding a rhyton (formerly in the Negaristan Museum, Tehran, now transferred to the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts, Tehran; Colnaghi, 1976, no.140; Adle, 1996, fig.13).

8. A man in the costume of a footman standing in a landscape (formerly in the Negaristan Museum, Tehran, now transferred to the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts, Tehran; Colnaghi, 1976, no. 141).

9. Portrait of a nobleman (private collection; Sotheby's, London, Wednesday 13th October, 1999, lot 13).

10. Portrait of a lady (private collection; Sotheby's, London, Wednesday 13th October, 1999, lot 14).

11. A gentleman in Persian dress standing on a terrace against a landscape background (private collection; exhibited Burlington House, London, 1931; Christie's, London, 11th July 1974, lot 42, the pendant to the present portait).

12. A portrait of a nobleman holding a bow and arrow (private collection; Sotheby's, London, 12 October 2004, lot 11).

13. A portrait of a noblewoman with a white shawl (private collection; Sotheby's, London, 12 October 2004, lot 12).

14. Portrait of a Noblewoman with a Rose (Sotheby;s, London, 8 October 2008, lot 49, now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha).