Era: Qajar Period, Persia.
Date: 19th century.
Material and Technique: oil on canvas.
Size: 144.5 x 85.2 cm
Sold at Christie's auction.
Sources: [1],[2]
This painting portraits a young woman wearing a floral skirt and embroidered sash standing on her hands on a carpet. Painting in oils was introduced to Iran after 1600, when the country had strong commercial links with Europe. Production shrank during the troubled period after the Afghan invasion of Iran in 1722. It burst back into life under the Qajar dynasty, who reunited the country in the 1780s and 1790s. Fath 'Ali Shah was the second ruler of this dynasty, and his patronage led to this revival of oil painting.
