Shah 'Abbas seated on a terrace, by Mehdi al-Imami, Iran, first half of the 20th Century

Shah 'Abbas seated on a terrace, by Mehdi al-Imami
Iran, first half of the 20th Century
Gouache and gold on paper laid down on card, the Shah depicted seated within an arch and inner border illuminated in Safavid style, the outer border profusely decorated with Safavid-style picnic parties, wild beasts, birds and a simurgh amidst foliage, signed in lower border
album page 418 x 265 mm.

The artist's full name is apparently Mirza Aqa Muhammad Mehdi Emami Isfahani, recorded by Karimzadeh as the Chief Painter (naqqash-bashi). He moved to Tehran, studied in the College of Arts and was a pupil of Razi (a painter active during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar). He returned to Isfahan and set up a studio, also training students. He is praised for his portraits, animal and flower paintings, as well as illumination, lacquer work and carpet designs in the Safavid style. Karimzadeh gives the date of his death as 16 adhar 1334/8th December 1955. See M. A. Karimzadeh Tabrizi, The Lives & Art of Old Painters of Iran, vol. 3, London 1991, pp. 1269-71.