A Court Lady Playing a Santour, Attributable to the ‘Shirin Painter’, oil on canvas, circa 1840, Qajar, Persia, private collection.

Court painting in Qajar Persia ave particular importance to the representation of women. From the mid-seventeenth century onwards, royal artists were attracted by European depictions of female subjects, borrowing certain poses, imagery and stylistic techniques into their own work. This elaborate oil embodies these influences elegantly.

A luxuriously-dressed maiden is portrayed wearing a diaphanous blouse, with a white Kashmir shawl with embroidered ends draped beneath the santour which she is playing.

The painting is particularly fine in its treatment of the textiles, with its different layers, varied palette, textures and heavy jewelled ornamentation all increasing the decorative effect (for a discussion of Persian costume of the period see 'Vesture and Dress; Fashion, Function and Impact' in Carol Bier (ed)., Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, Washington DC., 1987).

This portrait captures the Qajar ideal of beauty, specifically in the maiden's 'joined eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, puckered lips and flamboyant hairdos' (L.S. Diba and M. Ekhtiar (eds.), Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, pP.206-7).