The King and I: Qajar Portrait Miniatures

Natasha Morris

Abstract

Both portable and precious, bejewelled portrait miniatures of the Qajar Shahs were given as both diplomatic gestures and for endowment of favour within the court. In being extensively worn and displayed on the male body, they became symbols of reverence, embodiment and fraternity. Whilst there are obvious parallels with the European production of portrait miniatures of notable persons, there are stronger links to local conceptualisations of both image and subject, specifically Shi‘i traditions of portable, idealised portraits of Imams ( shemayel ). These glittering mementos therefore reveal not only a self-contained dynastic vision that could be charted in mise-en-abyme from the chest of one Qajar ruler to the next, but they also pertain to notions of the iconic and an inherently devotional attachment to a male image of power. In being passed with reverence from one man’s body to another, portrait miniatures implicate concepts of masculinity, charisma and authority that are both regal and religious.

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Contact email: mb@royalasiaticsociety.org