TWO ALBUM PAGE STUDIES OF ROSE BUSHES Qajar Iran, dated 1254 AH (1838 AD) and 1281 AH (1864 AD), signed Lotf 'Ali

TWO ALBUM PAGE STUDIES OF ROSE BUSHES Qajar Iran, dated 1254 AH (1838 AD) and 1281 AH (1864 AD), signed Lotf 'Ali Opaque pigments, pencil, and ink on paper, comprising two floral studies in vertical format, the first with a pink frilled rose stem with serrated leaves and two buds against a plain off-white ground, signed in red ink Lotf 'Ali and dated 1281 AH on the left of one of the leaves, set within polychrome and gold rules and mounted on an eau de nil blue album card, 29.7cm x 20cm including the mount; and the latter similar, with a slender pink rose bush, signed by the same artist and dated 1254 AH on the left, set within polychrome and gold rules and mounted on a similar eau de nil blue album card, possibly once part of the same muraqqa' of the previous painting, 31.5cm x 20.4cm including the mount. Another floral study by Lotf 'Ali bearing a close date (1252 AH / 1836 AD) was successfully sold in these Rooms as part of the same private collection (28 October 2022, lot 39). The artist's signature matches in style and colour (red ink). It is therefore likely that these studies were all produced by Lotf 'Ali Shirazi, one of the leading Qajar painters in the mid-19th century. A master of many talents including watercolours on paper, manuscript illustrations, and lacquer wares, his fame resided mostly in his flower studies, characterised by a truly 'realistic' outlook. His works are usually inscribed with his characteristic signature in tughra form, similar to the one present on our lots (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson, and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands: Part One, p. 206).Click here to share: