Description:

A CAMEL & HER CALF, 18TH CENTURY, ZAND DYNASTY
Iran, 18th century

Description:
Ink and opaque watercolour on paper; a finely rendered Persian drawing featuring a camel and her calf, tethered before two elegantly dressed male attendants. The composition is executed in a delicate line drawing technique, with selectively applied soft colour washes, particularly on the figures’ garments and camel features. The central image is bordered with calligraphic panels in nasta‘liq script on a rich purple background, framed further by gilt and pink speckled margins. This folio exemplifies the refined and often understated aesthetic of the Zand era, favouring naturalistic studies and gently humorous narrative scenes.

Dimensions:
30 x 22cm

Comparable examples:

  • Sotheby’s, London, Arts of the Islamic World, 25 October 2017, Lot 49, a Persian drawing of a camel caravan, Zand period, £4,500 

  • Christie’s, London, Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds, 27 April 2023, Lot 144, 18th-century Persian ink drawing with animals and figures, £6,930 

  • Bonhams, London, Islamic and Indian Art, 30 March 2021, Lot 103, Zand school animal study in ink and wash, £5,355 

Provenance:
From a private collection, Germany. Acquired on the European art market in the late 1990s.

Note:
Animal studies such as this became increasingly popular in the late Safavid and Zand periods, often serving as courtly amusements or illustrations for literary works. The humour and tenderness shown in the interaction between camel and calf, alongside the expressive faces of the figures, reflect a distinctively Persian sense of narrative infused with charm and subtle satire.

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May 6, 2025 1:00 PM BST
London, United Kingdom

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