RARE SET OF PORTRAITS OF KINGS OF IRAN Qajar Iran, first half of the 19th century Pigments and gold on paper, each depicted seated against a simple blue, green and ochre background, each portrait identified in Persian, mounted on beige, salmon or blue card, chipping to edges, small chips to margins, paintings in good condition. Size: 21.4 x 14.5 cm (painting); 29.2 x 20 cm (page). Source : Former Rudolf Wacker collection (1893-1939) Then by descent, private Austrian collection A Rare Group of Six Portraits of Kings of Iran, Qajar Iran, First Half 19th century These six paintings were part of a series that was to include a larger number of portraits of the kings of Iran. The six surviving kings are identified as Sultan Mahmud (of Ghazni), Shah Tahmasp (Safawi), Shah 'Abbas (Safawi), Nadir Shah (Afshari), Karim Khan Zand (r. 1751-79) and Lutf 'Ali Khan Zand (r.1789-94). The style of these paintings appears to be that of portraits from the early Qajar period, particularly in view of the style of jewellery worn by the sovereigns. On the other hand, the prototype of the royal portrait depicting the sovereign seated on his knees in a simple interior can be found as early as the time of Nadir Shah (r. 1736-47, see for example Nadir Shah by Muhammad Reza in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, IM.20-1919, dated c.1740). One of the finest examples of this style shows the first Shah of the Qajar dynasty, Fath 'Ali, richly adorned and seated on his knees in a bare interior but on a luxurious carpet. The work is attributed to the artist Mirza Baba, and dates from around 1798 (Layla S. Diba with Maryam Ekhtiar, Royal Persian Paintings, The Qajar Epoch, 1785-1925, London and New York, 1998, cat. 37, p.180). This type of royal and aristocratic portraiture seems to have lasted until the mid-nineteenth century.