A maiden with a parrot, attributed to Muhammad Isma'il, Qajar Persia, dated AH 1269/AD 1852-53

watercolour on paper, inscribed in nasta'liq script
332 x 193 mm.

The inscription reads: farmayesh-e 'alijah Ibrahim bayg tofang-dar va raqam-e kamtarin muhammad isma'il isfahani dar 1269, 'The order of His Exalted Ibrahim Bayg, the gun-bearer, and the work of the most humble, Muhammad Isma'il Isfahani in 1269 (1852-3).'

Muhammad Isma'il is one of the most famous Qajar court painters, who received the title naqqash-bashi (Chief Painter) from Nasir al-Din Shah in around 1858 and whose recorded works are dated between AH 1256/AD 1840-41 and AH 1288/AD 1871-72). For his last work, a mirror case depicting Imam 'Ali, see L. Diba (ed.), Royal Persian Paintings: the Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, New York 1998, pp. 257-258, no. 84.

For a discussion on his biography and his works, see: N. D. Khalili, B. W. Robinson, T. Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part II, p. 46; and for a piece signed as on the present lot, see p. 68, no. 257. See also Karimzaded Tabrizi, The Lives & Art of Old Painters of Iran, vol. 1, London 1985, pp. 66-76.

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