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