Embracing couple, Iran qâjâr, dated 1844, attributable to Ab - Lot 135

Embracing couple, Iran qâjâr, dated 1844, attributable to Abo'l Hassan Ghaffari (Sani-ol Molk) Gouache and gold on paper depicting a man and a woman holding hands and shoulders in front of a curtained background. Both are richly dressed in jackets embroidered with floral decor and rhythmic boteh, the woman wears a headband of gold-beaded hair topped with a sarpush, while the man wears a tall black kolah namadi hat. The artist's name, Abo'l Hassan Ghaffari, and the date 1261 H / 1844, probably added later, appear in red ink at bottom left. 33 x 24.5 cm Stains, wear, cracks and tears, several repaints, repairs, blocking, painting mounted on cardboard. Mirza Abo'l Hassan Khan Ghaffari Kashani (1814 - 66), alias Sani ol-Molk, was one of the leading figures of Iranian painting during the Qâjâr period. A pupil of the director of the royal workshop at the court of Fath Ali Shah, which he later headed in his turn, he enriched his training in Italy through contact with the works of the greatest painters of the Renaissance. A highly productive artist, Sani ol-Molk excelled in the art of portraiture, taking as his muses personalities and sovereigns of the Qâjâr court such as Mohammad Shah (1841) or Nasser ed-Dîn Shah (1854), as well as members of the aristocracy, such as this richly adorned and dressed couple, sketched in a very conventional posture. His participation in the illustration of a version of The Thousand and One Nights commissioned by Nasser ed-Dîn Shah in 1847, and now preserved in Tehran's Golestan Palace Library, contributed to his high reputation.