Karl von Saar

The identity of this sitter is not known but his clothes, sword and turban, as well as his features would suggest that he may have been Pashtun. Von Saar, who is considered to have been one of the finest Viennese portrait painters of the period, is not thought to have travelled and it may be that this striking young man came to Vienna with Karl Alexander Anselm von Hügel (1795-1870), the soldier, diplomat and explorer, who had travelled in northern Indian in the early 1830s. His book 'Kaschmir und das Reich der Siek' was published between 1840 and 1844.

We are very grateful to Charles Greig for his help when cataloguing this lot.