A Zand or Qajar lacquer mirror case depicting the Holy Family possibly by Muhammad Sadiq, Persia, 18th/ 19th Century

of rectangular form with lifting cover, decorated in polychrome and gilt with the Holy Family in a pavilion with angels and attendants to the front and reverse, signature and date to top, the interior of the cover with the Virgin Mary seated with attendants
24.5 x 16.7 cm.

Provenance
Private UK collection.

Inscriptions: 'Ya sadiq al-wa'd, 'O You who are true to Your promise the year 1182 (1768-9)'.

This signature is one of the forms used by the painter Muhammad Sadiq. He was an 18th century painter of lacquer, oil paintings and watercolours who was particularly skilled in depicting figures, flowers, battles and hunting scenes. His works are represented in the St Petersbug album, two oil paintings in the pavilion built by the Zand ruler Karim Khan in Shiraz, and murals in the Forty Column Palace in Isfahan. For more on Muhammad Sadiq and his recorded works see: Khalili, Robinson and Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, vol. One, 1996, pp. 74-5, cats 66-68, 96- 97 and M. A. Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives & Art of Old Painters of Iran, vol. 1, London, 1985, pp. 257-64.

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