A QAJAR POLYCHROME-PAINTED ENAMELLED GOLD QALYAN CUP WITH PORTRAITS AND TOWNSCAPES Iran, 19th century, signed Sayf al-Sultan

A QAJAR POLYCHROME-PAINTED ENAMELLED GOLD QALYAN CUP WITH PORTRAITS AND TOWNSCAPES Iran, 19th century, signed Sayf al-Sultan Of typical flaring cylindrical shape, with a wide everted rim, the exterior painted in polychrome enamels and gold, the decoration consisting of alternating cusped cartouches and roundels with figural portraits and townscapes interspersed amidst a floral triumph, the two largest escutcheon-like medallions presenting a courtly Qajar couple with a young girl and a mother with two young boys, tronies of a Qajar maiden and a youth filling the smaller medallions, underneath them two roundels featuring miniature characters on a procession or promenade with a mosque or religious complex in the background, one of the roundels signed in black on the upper right-corner Sayf al-Sultan (The Sword of the Sultan), all set against a vibrant gold ground filled with colourful floral bouquets, foliage, rosette festoons, serrated leaves and aviary motifs, framed within two horizontal friezes with flower heads and a band of alternating green and red rectangles to the base, the interior painted in dark green enamel, mounted on a later-added gilt copper base, 8.7cm diam. and 7cm high.Click here to share: