Lot n° 223
Estimation :
3000 - 4000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 46 000EUR
PERSE, vers 1840. DECORATION AU PORTRAIT ROYAL - Lot 223
PERSE, vers 1840. DECORATION AU PORTRAIT ROYAL
PERSE, circa 1840.
DECORATION WITH THE ROYAL PORTRAIT
Plate in vermeil, reperced, worked with diamond points
The enamel center painted with the portrait of the sovereign Muhammad Shah Qâjâr (r. 1834-1848) in bust, the face framed by two medallions inscribed "al-Sultan ibn al-Sultan Muhammad Shah Qâjâr". Reverse side with two hooks and tilting clasp.
Gross weight : 50 g. Dimensions : 85 x 75 mm.
T.T.B.
A Qajar gilt and enameled silver decoration with the portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar, Persia, circa 1840
Lot presented jointly with Mrs Camille CELIER, CEA expert in Islamic arts.
Provenance :
-Count Edouard de Sercey, head of the extraordinary embassy in Persia in 1839-1840.
-His daughter Félicie de Sercey, then by descent.
History:
Count Edouard de Sercey, sent as ambassador to Persia, renewed the diplomatic link between France and Persia, and was received on several occasions by the Shah who showed him much kindness and benevolence.
According to the Revue de l'Orient, when he left the Persian Court, the Shah sent him "his portrait surrounded by diamonds which is the greatest favor and the first decoration of the country".
It is not known if our plaque was given "diamond-covered" or if it was later stripped of its diamonds, but the shape of this one echoes that of the early plaques of the Order of the Lion and the Sun around 1830.
Our plaque also evokes the decoration of the Portrait (Temtâl-e Homâyûn) created by Nasser ed-din Shah in 1856 and given to the great dignitaries of the Court. These decorations were also adorned with diamonds and precious stonesThe tradition of awarding a portrait of the ruler as a supreme distinction existed before the official creation of this decoration as our plaque proves.
Related works:
-Spada Collection on display at the Musée de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie, "Insignia with the portrait of Nasser al-din Shah," inv 246.
- Also consult the Lion and Sun set given by the Shah to Sir John Kinneir Macdonald (Khalili Collection, London) for a plaque of similar shape to ours.
Biographies :
Edouard de Sercey (1802-1881)
Son of Admiral Marquis Pierre César Charles de Sercey, Edouard de Sercey was a diplomat in St. Petersburg when he was appointed on October 4, 1839 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as head of a mission to Persia. The objective of this mission was to re-establish the relations broken for several decades between France and the Persian sovereign.
Leaving Toulon on October 30 on the Véloce, the embassy, which brought together a large number of men including the architect Pascal Coste and the painter Eugène Flandin, arrived at its destination on January 11, 1840 after a long stay in Turkey.
Several stages punctuated the diplomat's journey in Persia before the embassy was received with great honors by Muhammad Shah Qajar and then his vizier Mirza Agaci at the court of Isfahan on April 8.
The two months that Sercey spent in Isfahan offered him many opportunities to visit the Shah, which allowed him to understand the diplomatic game of the Russians and the British.
In May 1840, the embassy split into three groups sent to different parts of Persia. Sercey's group, accompanied by Chazelles, Lachèze, Kasimirski and Abbé Scoffi, left Isfahan at the beginning of 1841 for Murat, Kermanshah and the Zagros mountains.
Once their mission was completed, they returned to Europe via Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Muhammad Shah Qâjâr (1808-1848) acceded to the throne of Persia on October 23, 1834 to become the third sovereign of the Qâjar dynasty following his grandfather Fath 'Ali Shah. He knew a complex reign, tarnished by quarrels of succession as well as difficulties in Afghanistan during the siege of Herat (1837-1838) in the context of the Great Game. He also had to face the emergence of the messianic and reformist movement of Babism which created a break with the then dominant Shiite Islam and turned Persian society upside down. He died of gout at the age of 40.
Bibliography :
-Revue de l'Orient, Bulletin de la Société Orientale, Tome II, Paris, 1846, p 106.
-Encyclopedia Iranica, article "decorations" https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/decorations
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