Mirza Riza Khan (Arfa-ud-Dovleh) - Appartement de Mirza...

Extraordinary and extremely rare diplomatic photographic album from the era (Saint Petersburg, 1899), commissioned in private print run or as a unique copy to document the interiors of the sumptuous Persian residence and embassy of Mirza Riza Khan (Arfa-ud-Dovleh, 1846-1937), plenipotentiary minister of Persia at the court of Tsar Nicholas II and famous delegate to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference. The work is complete with its cycle of 10 large original era photographs in albumin/bromide, mounted inside rigid cardboard mounts with a window mat and dry-stamped filigree. Each plate bears in ink calligraphy in Persian indicating the interiors of the embassy in Saint Petersburg and the Islamic date 1316 of the Hijra (1898-1899). The shots document in detail the fusion of the aristocratic pomp of Tsarist Russia and the courtly art of the Qajar Persia: - Reception salons with gilded furnishings, crystal chandeliers, mirrors, and leopard skin trophies on the floor. - Rooms with porcelain stoves, consoles, and precious collections of Persian carpets and tapestries mounted on the wall. - Receiving rooms with display cabinets for silver and porcelain. - Private sitting room with a long wall sofa/ottoman covered in embroidered Oriental cushions and carpets (shot from two different angles). - Private study and work room, with the desk covered with documents, the portrait of the Shah, the wall gallery of diplomas and decorations, flanked by the monumental carved wooden library with multiple doors. - Monumental imperial dining room laid out for official banquets, documented in two distinct frames with the table set, crystalware, chandeliers and porcelain plates arranged geometrically on the wall. - Exquisite craftsmanship: full-leather binding in aubergine color with elegant titles and gold-embossed frames on the front board, wholly gold-edged pages, four semi-spherical metal studs on each plate and an original metal snap fastener functioning perfectly. The rear board preserves perfectly the original Cyrillic label from the renowned bookbinding and case-making workshop V. Ya. Natarov of Saint Petersburg (Baskov Pereulok 1). General condition and defects: The 10 historical photographs and their corresponding rigid cardboard sheets are well preserved, sound, stable, and free of tears or losses. The external binding shows the genuine and visible signs of time and use: widespread cupping and leather wear along the edges and on the plates, cracked/open spine with wear to the gables and partially loosened gatherings.

Estimate:£1,016.66

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