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JBOC Comments: Abu'l Hasan
Ghaffari also known as Abu'l Hasan kashani and
Sani' al-Mulk
Auction Catalogue Description:
PERSIAN & ISLAMIC ART: THE
COLLECTION OF THE BERKELEY TRUST
SALE L04626 AUCTION DATE
SESSION 1 | 12 Oct 04 2:30 PM.
London, New Bond Street
LOT 29 (of 168)
PORTRAIT OF PRINCE ARDASHIR MIRZA, SIGNED BY
ABU'L HASAN GHAFFARI, QAJAR, IRAN, DATED A.H.
1269/A.D. 1852-53
30,000—50,000 GBP
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:
30,000 GBP
MEASUREMENTS
measurements note 43.2 by 30.5cm.
DESCRIPTION
gouache on paper heightened with gold, the sitter
in an interior decorated with richly coloured and
decorated materials, a table at his side with
writing implements, a landscape is glimpsed
through a window beyond, inscription in upper
right corner "huwa'l-maqar shabih navab
mustatab shahzadeh-i `azam Ardashir Mirza
Hukmaran-i Dar al-Khalafeh-i Tehran va
Tavabi`" , signed at lower left
"raqam-i Abu'l Hasan naqqash-bashi Ghaffari
sanna 1269", a note on the plain verso in
pencil in an English hand (presumably that of
J.A. Churchill (see provenance below)) reads
"Cost Ardashir Mirza 100 toumans, the work
of the celebrated Abul Hasan Kashani d.1269,
portrait of Ardashir Mirza, cost me £5"
PROVENANCE
Prince Ardashir Mirza, circa 1853
J.A. Churchill, M.V.O., British Consul General in
Tehran circa 1900
By descent
Christie's, London, 11th October 1988, lot 24
EXHIBITED
Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch -
1785-1925
Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1999; University of
California Los Angeles, Armand Hammer Museum of
Art, 1999; Brunei Gallery of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of
London, 1999
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES
Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no.79, pp.250-252
CATALOGUE NOTE
The inscription in the cartouche at upper right
is as follows:
Huwa al-mu`izz
shabih-e navvab-e mostatab shazadeh-ye a`zam
ardashir mirza hokmran-e dar al-khalafeh-ye
tehran va tavabe
"He (God) is the Bringer of Honour
The portrait of the Highness, the Gracious, the
Great Prince Ardashir Mirza, Governor of the
capital Tehran and [its] dependencies"
This portrait is a fine example of the high
quality work executed by the artist Abu'l Hasan
Ghaffari. A native of Kashan and a member of a
family who had been practising artists for
generations, Ghaffari was born in 1812,
apprenticed to Mihr 'Ali at the age of fifteen
and eventually appointed court painter by
Muhammad Shah in 1842. After his promotion
Ghaffari travelled to Italy and France and
studied European art for four years. He returned
to Iran full of enthusiasm for the western
approach to painting, and the title of naqqash
bashi was bestowed on him. In 1861 he was given
the title of Sani' al-Mulk and placed in charge
of several important artistic projects, including
the illustration of a monumental copy of The
Thousand and One Nights, the newly founded Dar
al-Funun college of art and the weekly government
newspaper.
He was a master draughtsman whose naturalistic
style and incisive observation profoundly
influenced the later Qajar artists. B.W. Robinson
has described him as "arguably the greatest
artist of the Qajar period" (Ferrier 1989,
p.229). His years of study in Europe certainly
influenced his style and brought a psychological
realism to his work, which marked him out from
his predecessors, but he retained the more
traditional approach of generations of Persian
artists in his attention to detail and pattern.
The depiction of the carpet, the wall decoration,
the Kirman cloak, the ornate chair and the
flowers on the table is meticulous and precise,
conveying a richness and luxury which was wholly
appropriate to the sitter, a man who was a Qajar
prince, a grandson of Fath `Ali Shah, uncle of
the then Shah and governor of Tehran when this
portrait was painted.
Ardashir Mirza's pensive, almost brooding gaze
conveys a troubled mind. What exactly it is he is
contemplating we do not know, but it is
unsurprising in so hardened a military campaigner
and political player. The ninth son of Crown
Prince Abbas Mirza, he was a long-standing
military commander and loyal ally of the crown.
He was a successful politician who at various
stages during his career was governor of Gilan,
Mazandaran, Luristan, Khuzistan and Tehran,
viceroy of Azarbayjan and regent to the crown.
Diba notes the importance of the advent of
photography to Qajar portraiture at this period
and recalls its beneficial effect on Persian art.
Photography provided a widely disseminated
artistic form that influenced many Qajar artists,
bringing a greater realism to their works by
providing tangible examples of real life space,
depth and character (Diba and Ekhtiar 1998,
p.251).
Seen on www.Sothebys.com
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