Notes
This is a very rare and important painting almost certainly by the noted Qajar artist Isma'il Jalayir. It is extremely close to his style and, until 1990, when it was changed during conservation, the signature read 'amal-i kamtarin Isma'il. Quite why the restorer thought that this should be changed to Iskandar is unclear, but it is certainly to be sincerely regretted. Fortuitously a transparency of the painting before restoration has been preserved, which we have illustrated below (fig.1) and which documents the signature as Isma'il. This might enable another conservator in the future to restore the signature to its original form. However, for the moment we must discuss the case on stylistic and art historical grounds.
There are three principal aspects which strongly support an attribution to Isma'il Jalayir. The first is the subject matter. Jalayir was a religious man with strong Sufi sympathies and painted subjects including Hazrat 'Ali with Hassan and Husayn on at least three occasions, Yusuf and Ya'qub, and the dervish Nur 'Ali Shah six times. According to the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia (Tehran, 1990 - ongoing, pp.662-6) Jalayir was particularly interested in the subject of the near-sacrifice of Isma'il by Ibrahim, and painted it four times. This interest may have arisen from his devotion to the Sufi leader Muhammad Isma'il Dhahibullah Azghudi, but is also likely to have been a pun on the artist's own name. Of the four paintings of this subject which he is said to have completed, only two appear to have survived: the present work and a closely related one formerly in the Walter Schulz Collection, Leipzig, illustrated here as fig.2. (For a note on why so few of Jalayir's works have survived see below). The striking similarities between the two works are unmistakable, indeed the compositions are almost identical. The only obvious difference between the two is in the position and wording of the signature. In the Schulz Collection example the work is signed at the bottom edge with the single word "Isma'il". The present example bears a fuller signature reading 'amal-i kamatarin Isma'il and placed higher up, just to the left of the figure of the kneeling Isma'il, and was a fuller signature, reading . It is worth noting the close physical proximity of these words to the figure of Isma'il, thus emphasising visually the pun associated with the two Isma'ils - artist and Prophet.
The second type of evidence is stylistic. Isma'il Jalayir was one of the most distinctive artists of the late Qajar period, and his style is quite recognisable. The present work is very much in his style, and but there are two very pertinent features worth examining more closely. The figures here have the statuesque form and slightly stiff presence with which he imbues almost all his figures. This particular figural style is apparent in both the Schulz Collection 'Sacrifice of Isma'il' (fig.2) and a large painting signed by Jalayir of 'Ladies around a Samovar' (fig.3), (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, P.56-1941, see also Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no.86, pp.238,261). In fact there are several figures in these three works whose faces are so closely comparable as to imply the repeated use of the same models. In the present work the figure of the standing angel at left, with her face in profile, is exactly the same as the left hand figure in the Schulz Collection painting and the central standing lady in the Victoria and Albert Museum painting, also shown in profile. The second central standing lady in the Victoria and Albert Museum painting, shown in three-quarter profile, bears a close resemblance to several faces in the present work, including that of Isma'il himself (albeit a more youthful version) and the two angels on the right. The face of the lady in the black skirt seated at left in the Victoria and Albert Museum painting resembles several of the angels on the left of the present composition.
The second stylistic trait found in the present painting that recurs throughout Isma'il's oeuvre is the vegetation. Here we have a bed of carefully painted flowers in the foreground, on which the action takes place, and visible beyond the figures a thickly wooded forest or garden. Similar vegetation appears in the Victoria and Albert Museum painting (fig.3), the Schulz Collection 'Sacrifice of Isma'il' (fig.2) and in at least three other works: a portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah (private collection, see Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no.85, p.259); a second portrait of the same sitter (private collection, Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, fig.XXXII, p.260); and a portrait of Hazrat 'Ali with Hassan and Husayn (private collection, unpublished).
The combination of these two stylistic traits, along with the ethereal quality and stillness of the scene, produces an almost other-worldly atmosphere common to many of his paintings, an atmosphere which is not only appropriate for a religiously significant moment such as the sacrifice of Isma'il, but is also unique to Jalayir and could perhaps be termed an emotional rather than painterly characteristic.
The third major piece of evidence is the simple presence, before restoration, of the signature 'amal-i kamtarin Isma'il. It is notable that he has spelt his name slightly differently here than in his other signatures. The name is the same, but he has included the long alif between the mim and the 'ayn, which is unusual, although grammatically correct. The signature as it is today has been examined under high magnification, and the signature on the pre-restoration transparency has also been minutely inspected, and it appears that the original signature may have been 'Isma'il' spelt without the long alif. This was the more usual spelling of that name in the 19th century, although the lacquer artist Muhammad Isma'il, a contemporary of Isma'il Jalayir, often spells his name with a long alif (see, for instance, his signature on a pen-box, lot 53 in this sale). However, in the 20th century Isma'il has more often been spelt with the long alif (especially in Iran), and it is possible that the long alif here was added by an earlier over-zealous restorer or owner to accord with the spelling fashion of the 20th century. This vertical letter-form was then given a diagonal upper tail to form a kaf, the form of the letter 'ayn was subtly altered, and the terminal lam shortened to produce the current word Iskandar. As mentioned before, it is hoped that a conservator in the future might be able to restore the signature to something nearer its original form.
Isma'il Jalayir was the son of Haji Muhammad Zaman Khan Jalayir of Khurasan. He was one of the most gifted artists and teachers at the School of Arts of the Dar al-Funun in Tehran and his individualistic manner caught the eye of Nasir al-Din Shah and other senior figures in the Qajar court. By 1862-3 he had produced a portrait of the ruler and he continued his royal association throughout his career. Works by Jalayir are extremely rare and sought-after. Only a handful of works by the artist are recorded in private collections, while among museums only the Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts and the Gulistan Palace Library in Tehran, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Leipzig Museum posses examples of his work. Only two of his works have appeared at auction: a portrait of Mirza 'Ali Asghar Khan in gouache on paper was sold in these rooms 18th October 2001, lot 74, and a lacquer pen-box with scenes by Jalayir was sold in these rooms 9th October 1978, lot 187, and again on 12th October 2000, lot 89. The scarcity of extant works may be attributable to his reputed perfectionism and habit of destroying works that did not totally satisfy his strict personal criteria. Only fourteen signed or confidently attributed works by Jalayir, other than the present painting, are recorded as being extant, as follows:
1. Portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, dated 1279/1862-3:(location unknown).
2. Ladies around a samovar: Victoria and Albert Museum, London P.56-1941, (Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no.86).
3. Portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah (I): private collection (Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, no.85).
4. Portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah (II): private collection (Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, fig.XXXII; Robinson 1991, pl.37).
5. Portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah (III): Sadabad Museum of Fine Arts, Tehran (Keikavusi 1992, no.19).
6. Portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah (IV): Leipzig Museum (Diba and Ekhtiar 1998, p.267, footnote no.37).
7. An album of portraits of the Seven Sufis, dated 1286/1869-70: Gulistan Palace Library, Tehran (Atabey 1353, cat.171, p.386).
8. 'The Sacrifice of Isma'il': formerly in the collection of P.W.Schulz (Schulz 1914, vol.I, pl.F).
9. A sheet of decorated calligraphic work with interlinear painting: see lot 30 in this sale (Geneva 1985, no.178; Geneva 1988, no.34; Raby 1999., no.138).
10. A sheet of decorated calligraphy: see lot 31 in this sale (Geneva 1985, no.177).
11. A qalamdan, begun probably by the artist Muhammad Hassan Afshar, completed by Isma'il Jalayir: private collection (Sotheby's, London, 12th October 2000, lot 89 and 9th October 1978, lot 187; Wiet 1935, P.87; Robinson 1989, figs.16a-c,pp.141-2; Karimzadeh Tabrizi 2000, p.370).
12. A portrait of Imam 'Ali with Hassan and Husayn, private collection (unpublished).
13. Watercolour portrait of Nur 'Ali Shah kneeling, private collection (unpublished).
14. Portrait of Prime Minister Mirza 'Ali Asghar Khan, private collection (sold in these rooms 18th October 2001, lot 74.
