A Nourouz still life, Persia, Qajar, first half 19th century

The foremost exponent of the Qajar still life genre was through the late eighteenth-century artist Mirza Baba. Toby Falk praised the artist’s ability to create texture in his still life compositions, countering the rigidity of the architecture in the background (Falk 1973, pp.30-32, pl.3). Once introduced, the style underwent little transformation, with artists following the master with their own compositions comprising still life in the foreground leading to a vignette through which to view an architectural scene in the background (Diba and Ekhtiar, 1998, p.214). Contemporaneous photographs attest to the use of these paintings within reception rooms and garden pavilions reflecting and enriching the surrounding landscape (ibid., p.215).

A comparable still life was sold in these rooms, 31 March 2021, lot 55 and another was sold at Christie’s, London, 31 March 2022, lot 66.