A portrait of Nasr-al-Din Shah Qajar (reg. 1848-96), seated on a chair, signed by Sayyid Muhammad al-Husaini al-Imami, Persia, dated 1849

A portrait of Nasr-al-Din Shah Qajar (reg. 1848-96), seated on a chair, signed by Sayyid Muhammad al-Husaini al-Imami
Persia, dated AH 1265/AD 1849
Gouache and gold on paper, signed and dated centre left, English inscription at top Nesser ud Deen SHAH OF PERSIA, framed
297 x 190 mm.
The inscription reads: raqam-e kamtarin banah-ye darga[h] sayyid mumammad al-husayni al-ima[mi] fi sanah 1265 min al-hijra, 'Drawn by the smallest servant at [Divine] court, Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni al-Imami in the year 1265 of the hijra'.

Muhammad al-Husaini's portrait of the fresh-faced Nasir al-Din Shah, painted within a year of his accession following the death of Muhammad Shah, has a somehow more intimate and personal feeling, when set against later, more formal portraits. Two other similar portraits of Nasr-al-Din Shah are known, though both of these date from before his acccession, when he was still Crown Prince. The first is dated AH 1260/AD 1845 (for which see E. Grube, Muslim Miniature Paintings, Venice 1962, no. 124); and the second dated AH 1264/AD 1847 (see Sotheby's, London, 4th April 1987, lot 83). An undated portrait by Muhammad al-Husaini of Nasir al-Din Shah was sold at Sotheby's London (9th July 1979, lot 57).