Came across this beauty at Wallace collections
The early nineteenth century was a period of great artistic achievement in Iran. In 1797, the second Qajar king Fath-'Ali Shah inherited from his uncle a vast empire and he was keen to legitimise the rule of his dynasty. He sponsored a wide-ranging artistic programme with a clear visual style, both cosmopolitan and drawing from local traditions.
This detailed rifle barrel, made in 1846 or 1847 by Hajj Ahmad for a certain
Mu'ammar, retains the dense arabesques in gold overlay that characterise so many Qajar works of arms and armour. Here, the rifle barrel is set on a wooden stock using nielloed silver, a technique strongly associated with the Caucasus
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