Muhammad Isma'il Isfahani | Mirror Case Depicting the Meeting of Nasir al-Din Mirza and Tsar Nicholas I in Erivan and Satin Pouch

Title: Mirror Case Depicting the Meeting of Nasir al-Din Mirza and Tsar Nicholas I in Erivan and Satin Pouch

Artist: Muhammad Isma'il Isfahani (Iranian, 1814–1892)

Date: dated 1271 AH/1854 CE

Geography: Made in Iran, Tehran

Medium: a) Pasteboard, opaque color, watercolor, gold under a lacquer varnish
b) Satin pouch with metal wrapped embroidery

Dimensions: a) mirror case: Ht. 11 in. (28 cm)
W. 7 in. (17.8 cm)
D. 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)
b) pouch: L. 11 7/16 in. (29 cm)
W. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)
D. 1 9/16 in. (4 cm)
pouch with flap open: W. 15 3/16 in. (38.5 cm)

Classification: Lacquer

Credit Line: Gift of Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2020

Object Number: 2020.373a, b

Mirror Case

This mirror-case by Muhammad Isma’il Isfahani, master lacquer painter at the courts of Muhammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834–48) and Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–96), is executed in the artist’s signature Europeanizing style. Painted in minute detail, the scenes on its three surfaces commemorate the momentous diplomatic meeting between the crown prince Nasir al Din Mirza, future ruler of Iran, and the Russian tsar Nicholas I in Erivan, Armenia, in 1838, shortly after Iranian territories in the Caucasus were lost to the Russians. Signed and dated, the work not only documents but also celebrates this critical event in Perso-Russian history with artistic mastery and refinement.

The scene at the center of the interior panel shows the seven-year-old prince seated on the tsar's lap, accompanied by a small entourage. The exterior cover depicts other episodes from the tsar's trip, including a visit to the famous Etchmiadzin Cathedral, tours of the city on horse-drawn carriages, and an elaborate feast for Russian dignitaries and their wives. While Perso-Russian diplomatic relations dominate the cover, the back panel features an equestrian portrait of the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–39), a towering figure whose modernizing reforms served as a model for Persians at the time.

Maryam Ekhtiar in [MMA New Acquisitions, Part II, 2021]

Inscription: Inscribed on the lower cartouche of the cover:
‘amal-i kamtarin Ismaʽil 1271 (the work of the humblest Ismaʽil 1271 [A.D.1854])

Collection of Professor R. A. Dara, England; Mrs. Batul Amini, Iran; sale, Phillips, London (British), March 15, 1966, lot 29; sale, Sotheby's, London, May 22, 1986, lot. 183; Hashem Khosravani Qajar Collection, London (by 1998–2004); sale, Sotheby's, London, October 12, 2004, lot 44; Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, New York (until 2020; gifted to MMA)

Robinson, Basil William. "A Lacquer Mirror-case of 1854." Iran (1967). pp. 1–6, ill. pls. 1–3.

Robinson, Basil William. "Persian Painting in the Qajar Period." Highlights of Persian Art, Persian art series ; no. 1., (1979). p. 132, fig. 230.

M.A. Karimzadeh Tabrizi. Naqqashan-i Qadim-i Iran vol. 1–3 (1985–91). vol. 1, pp. 73–74.

"May 23, 1986." In Fine Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures. London, 1986. no. 183, ill.

"October 12, 2004." In Persian and Islamic Art: The Collection of the Berkeley Trust. 2004. no. 44, ill.

Ekhtiar, Maryam. "Muhammad Ismail Isfahani: Master Lacquer Painter." In Persian Masters, edited by Sheila R. Canby. Bombay, 1990. p. 134, ill. fig. 5.

Amanat, Abbas. Pivot of the Universe : Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy (1831–1896). London ; New York: I. B. Tauris, 1997. p. 34, ill. fig. 1.

Ferrier, Ronald W., ed. The Arts of Persia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. p. 137, ill. fig. 11a–c.

Diba, Layla S., and Maryam Ekhtiar. Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785–1925. Brooklyn Museum, 1998. no. 73, pp. 234–36, ill.

Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 2018–20 . Part II Late Eighteenth Century to Contemporary (2021). pp. 14–15, ill. p. 15.