album;
painting
- Museum number
- 1921,0614,0.1.11
- Title
- Series: Persian Costumes
- Description
-
Portrait of a dancer; single-page painting mounted on album folio. A dancer with raised arms wears a transparent pink blouse which stops short of her bright orange skirt and reveals her breasts and belly. Over her blouse is a short green flowered jacket. A yellow veil is draped from a red and white striped cap adorned with a feather and jewels. Album contains 19 paintings of Persian costumes.
Ink and opaque watercolour on paper. Album bound in green leather with gold gilt trim, with pages of gold trim. Includes loose letter (in French) on thin blue paper describing contents and addressed to recipient.
- Production date
-
1842 (date of European binding)
-
19thC(late)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 18.30 centimetres (image (av.))
-
Height: 26.50 centimetres (manuscript)
-
Height: 25.60 centimetres (page)
-
Thickness: 1.10 centimetres (manuscript)
-
Width: 11.80 centimetres (image (av.))
-
Width: 20 centimetres (manuscript)
-
Width: 18.40 centimetres (page)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
-
Unlike the somewhat stiff depiction of a Qajar dancer from about 1830, this woman moves with verve showing off her body while smiling sweetly. Even in the 19th century, European travellers to Iran, for whom albums such as this were compiled, may have been known only dancers and prostitutes, not the wives and daughets of their male acquaintences.
-
See 1921,0614,0.1 .1-.19 for all folios included in this album.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1921
- Department
- Middle East
- Registration number
- 1921,0614,0.1.11
