Skip to main content

17th-19th centuries

17th-19th centuries

Karen Kramer HAA198G


Thomas Lawrence, English (Bristol, England 1769 - 1830 London, England)

Mirza Abu'l Hassan Khan (1776–1845), 1810

35 x 27 1/4 inches

frame: 46 1/8 x 38 1/4 x 4 inches

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of William M. Chadbourne, 1964 [1964.100]


This is a portrait of Mirza Abu’l Hasan Khan (1776–1845), the ‘Envoy Extraordinary’ who was dispatched by Fath Ali Shah of Persia to the Court of King George III. He arrived in London in 1809 and stayed about 18 months, becoming one of London’s most prominent celebrities. There as ambassador and official diplomat from the Qajar court, he had several goals, including generating British interest in the Persian silk trade, which had declined internationally since the 1720s. Ḥasan’s mission was also to secure the help of England in making Russia return the occupied Iran territories in the Caucasus. 


He was witty and amiable by all accounts, but it was his exotic foreignness that so fascinated people that he inspired several portraits, popular prints, and poems. He kept a diary, now held in the British Library, that was later published under the title, Heyratnameth (the book of wonders). In this journal, he conveyed his perceptions of Europe's modern achievements, but also his account of the initial formations of the very idea of “Iran” as a modern (colonial) nation-state. His journal was read widely in the Qajar court and later inspired sociopolitical movements, such as Iran's constitutional revolution. 


His official host, or mehmandar, was Sir Gore Ouseley, a diplomat and linguist who had lived and worked in India. Ouseley commissioned this portrait from Thomas Lawrence, one of the leading British portraitists of the day. In Hassan’s journal, he reported that Lawrence painted the portrait in four sittings. In this portrait, he wears a gold brocade gown with a fur-trimmed cape, and a silk turban.

Hassan Khan played a vital role in signing the 1813 treaty of Golestān, which safeguarded enabled the Russians to face the Napoleonic army without being disturbed by Iran. In 1819 he returned to England, traveling overland via Constantinople, Vienna, and Paris. Following that, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1824 to 1834, and then again from 1838 until his death in 1846.

 

Resources: 

H. Dabashi (2020). “An Ilchi Wonders about the World,” in Reversing the Colonial Gaze: Persian Travelers Abroad. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press  (73-101).


H. Javadi, “ABU’L-ḤASAN KHAN ĪLČĪ” in Encyclopedia Iranica, July 21, 2011, https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-hasan-khan-ilci-mirza-persian-diplomat-b accessed 11/6/2020


Jennifer Howes “Mirza Abu’l Hasan Khan, the ‘Envoy Extraordinary’ from Persia” November 27, 2013

https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2013/11/mirza-abul-hasan-khan-the-envoy-extraordinary-from-persia.html accessed 11/4/2020.


Harvard Art Museums collection database: https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/299796

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Individual Project: Week 11 Contemporary Art and Issues

Week 11: Contemporary Art and Issues Karen Kramer Collage IX: Landscape , 1974 George Morrison (Grand Portage Anishinaabe, 1919 - 2000) Wood 60 1/8 x 168 1/2 x 3 inches $75,000 Abstract Painting No. 2 , 1950 George Morrison (Grand Portage Anishinaabe, 1919 - 2000) Acrylic and oil on canvas 39.9 x 50.1 inches $65,000 Description and Importance of Work: Two rare works by George Morrison, Grand Portage Anishinaabe artist who came of age in New York in the 1950s and 60s, are available for acquisition: a large-scale wood collage (1974) and an abstract painting (1950).  Harvard Art Museum should acquire both of these phenomenal examples by this renowned artist. By doing so, HAM will begin to place Indigenous art from North America in conversation with American art, as well as painting and collage traditions across space and time.  These works, both in excellent condition, fit seamlessly into the overall HAM collection, and demonstrate that Native American artists have been producing...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Medieval World

  The Medieval World Karen Kramer HAA198G The Medieval World was connected through networks of trade and exchange that criss-crossed the African continent and extended across Europe and through Asia; Mesoamerican civilizations had active long-distance exchange networks and huge markets across Mexico and as far south as Panama. These merchants carried goods, ideas, and people in boats, by foot, and on animals. Religions spread, such as Buddhism from India to China, as seen in this Standing Boddhisattva figure, and proliferated, as evidenced in this exquisitely carved Virgin and Child which demonstrated access to wealth and the divine.  Luxury items like jade were highly sought after by Mayan rulers, as it symbolized, in part, precious falling rain, new life, and rejuvenation. Feathers, cacao, and honey were prestige items traded across Mesoamerica. Likewise, some of the most finely made objects used in the liturgical service of the church in the Medieval period in Europe used e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hieroglyphics in the Ancient World

  Painted stela of Osiris Seter-au Painted limestone Mid-seventh century BCE Said to be from Abydos HMANE 1902.17.32 Lintel #2 from doorway of "El Temple de la Stela de las Victimus," 658AD (Late Classic Period) Piedras Negras, Usumacinta River, Peten, Guatemala Limestone Overall: 36 x 48 1/16 inches   Overall weight: 309 pounds Collected by Teobert Maler (1899-1900), Peabody Museum Expedition (1899-1900) [Cat. No. 00-36-20/C2740] Though separated in time and space by about 2,000 years and 7,500 miles, these two ancient artworks were both used in tombs to honor the deceased and both use hieroglyphics, a formal writing system, to record a story. In this context, both objects were used to help tell important narratives that shaped each ruler’s life at the respective sites of ancestor worship.  Above is a painted Egypitan stela depicting a deceased nobleman “who used to praise the god in Karnak” and his family members standing before a table of offerings in the presence...
Post a Comment
Read more