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

dated 1271 AH/1854 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 462
This mirror-case by Muhammad Isma’il Isfahani, master lacquer painter at the courts of Muhammad Shah Qajar and Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, is executed in the artist’s signature Europeanizing style. All three of its surfaces are painted in minute detail in a continuous narrative commemorating a 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. This was the future king’s first diplomatic encounter with the Russians. Signed and dated, this work not only documents, but celebrates this critical event in Perso-Russian history with artistic mastery and refinement.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 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
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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