A PORTRAIT OF MIRZA ALI ASGHAR KHAN Iran, 19th century Opaque pigments on paper, the vertical composition depicting a young Mirza Ali Asghar Khan (1858 - 1907), the last Prime Minister of Iran under Naser al-Din Shah, wearing a tall black Astrakhankaj-kolahhat and a red Kerman termehcoat with boteh(paisley) motif on the shoulder, a green band around his shoulder and waist with a gem-set brooch in the centre, with a polychrome-painted portrait, possibly of Naser al-Din, the portrait unfinished but carried out with the highest precision and draughtsmanship in tune with 19th-century Sani' al-Molk's studio productions, pasted onto a later greenish cardboard mount, 31.5cm x 20.5cm. Provenance: Roseberys London, 23 October 2017, lot 338.