Harvard Art Museums > 1964.100: Mirza Abu'l Hassan Khan Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Mirza Abu'l Hassan Khan (Thomas Lawrence) , 1964.100,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 23, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/299796. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Mirza Abu’l Hassan (1776–1845) was the ambassador of the shah of Persia to the court of King George III in London, sent in 1809 to help negotiate a treaty of alliance to counter growing French influence. Although he stayed in England for less than a year, he became a figure of fascination — the subject of portraits, popular prints, and even poetry. A contemporary noted that “the Persian ambassador is the principal thing talked of now.” His official host was 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. Abu’l Hassan, who kept a journal during his time in London, reported that Lawrence painted the portrait in four sittings. Ouseley accompanied Abu’l Hassan on his return to Persia to finalize the treaty, bringing the painting with him. Identification and Creation Object Number 1964.100 People Thomas Lawrence, English (Bristol, England 1769 - 1830 London, England) Title Mirza Abu'l Hassan Khan Classification Paintings Work Type painting Date 1810 Culture British Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/299796 Location Location Level 2, Room 2120, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Lure of the East View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Oil on canvas Dimensions 88.9 x 69.2 cm (35 x 27 1/4 in.) frame: 117.2 x 97.2 x 10.2 cm (46 1/8 x 38 1/4 x 4 in.) Inscriptions and Marks label: verso, upper center of frame, round, serrated edges, red printed text: CHENUE / EMBALLEUR / 5, Rue de la Terrasse. PARIS. label: verso, upper center of frame, round, serrated edges, red printed text, torn: [illegible graphite] / Terrasse, PARIS label: verso of backing board, printed text: No.: 01 Date: 1810 / Title: Abu'l Hassan / Artist: Sir Thomas Lawrence / Lent by: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, / Bequest of William M. Chadbourne / From the exhibition: "SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE: Portriats of an Age, / 1790-1830 / Circulated by / Art Services International / 700 North Fairfax Stret, Suite 220 / Alexandria, Viriginia 22314 (703) 548-4554 label: verso, on backing board, printed text: Brooklyn Museum of Art / 200 Eastern Parkway Brooklyn NY 11238-6052 718/638-5000 / Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785-1925 / Venues & Dates: / Brooklyn Museum of Art : October 23, 1998-January 24, 1999 / UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural / Center, Los Angeles: February 24 - May 9, 1999 / TL1998.160 / Sir Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830) / Portrait of Persian Envoy Abul Hasan, 1810 / Oil on canvas / 35 1/4 x 27 1/4 inches (89.5 x 70.2 cm) / 1964.1 Harvard University Art Museums / Cat No. 49 inscription: verso, upper left of frame, white chalk: 124[?]6-1 Provenance Recorded Ownership History Commissioned by Sir Gore Ouseley, 1810, bequest; to Sir Frederick A. Gore Ouseley (his son), 1844, bequest; to St. Michael's College, Tenbury, 1889, sold [through A. T. Barber and Co., Ltd., Windsor]; to [Vicar Bros., London, 1919], sold; to [Leggatt Bros., London, 1927], sold (?); to [Jacques Seligmann & Co., Paris]; to William Chadbourne, New York, 1927, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1964. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of William M. Chadbourne Accession Year 1964 Object Number 1964.100 Division European and American Art Contact am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History E. E. Williams, The Life and Correspondence of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Kt. (London, England, 1831), vol. II, pps. 55-56 [Catalogue from Worcester Exhibition], exh. cat. (Worcester, England, 1882), no. 34 Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, Romney and Lawrence, Scribner and Welford (New York, NY, 1882), p. 118 Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, Sir Thomas Lawrence, with a catalogue of the artist's exhibited and engraved works, compiled by Algernon Graves., Goupil, J. Boussod, Manzi, Joyant, and successors (London, England and New York, NY, 1900), p. 150 Sir Walter Armstrong, Lawrence (New York, NY, 1913), p. 138 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Routledge and Paul (London, England, 1954), p. 50, pl. 65 Kenneth Garlick, A Catalogue of the Paintings, Drawings and Pastels of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Glasgow University Press (Glasgow, Scotland, 1962 - 1964), p. 144 Charles W. Millard, "A Diplomatic Portrait: Lawrence's 'The Persian Ambassador' ", Apollo (February 1967), vol. LXXXV, pps. 115-122; repr. in color plate III, p. 116 Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY, 1967), cat. 18 Sir Denis Wright, The Persians Amongst the English: episodes in Anglo-Persian History, I. B. Tauris (London, England, 1985), see chapter 6, "Envoy Extraordinary" M. M. Cloake, A Persian at the Court of King George, 1809-1810 (London, England, 1988), pps. 254, 275 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: A Complete Catalogue of the Oil Paintings, Phaidon Press (Oxford, England, 1989), no. 8, p. 133, repr. pl. 55 Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 64, color plate; pp. 115, 146, repr. b/w cat. no. 37 Kenneth Garlick, Sir Thomas Lawrence: Portrait of an Age, 1790-1830, Art Services International (Alexandria, VA, 1993), no. 1, p. 20, repr. in color Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997 Layla S. Diba, ed., Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785-1925, exh. cat., I. B. Taurus Publishers/Brooklyn Museum of Art (Brooklyn, NY, 1998), no. 49, pp,197-198, repr. in color Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford and New York, NY, 2002), repr. p. 41 as fig. 22 "Colonial-Era Silver and Shawls from India on Display", Antiques and the Arts Weekly (August 26 2005), p. 28, repr. p. 28 Michael Levey, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 2005), pp. 152, 154, 316, repr. p. 153 pl. 86, detail repr. p. 316, pl. 171 Susan Jenkins and Steven Parissien, Compton Verney: The History of the House and Grounds at Compton Verney, Scala Publishers Ltd. (London, 2010), p. 91, mentioned under cat. no. 50 A. Cassandra Albinson, ed., Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance, exh. cat., Yale Center for British Art (New Haven/London, 2010), cat. 36, ill. Exhibition History The Worcester Exhibition, [Unknown venue, Worcester England], Worcester, 01/01/1882 - 12/31/1882 Unidentified Exhibition, Harvard Club of New York, 1965, Harvard Club of New York City, New York, 01/01/1965 - 01/31/1965 Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 05/08/1967 - 06/11/1967 English Portraits in New England Collections, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, 10/01/1972 - 10/29/1972 Master Paintings from the Fogg Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/13/1977 - 08/31/1977 Sir Thomas Lawrence, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 02/27/1993 - 04/25/1993; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 05/15/1993 - 07/11/1993; Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Richmond, 07/31/1993 - 09/26/1993 Royal Persian paintings : the Qajar epoch, 1785-1925, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, 10/23/1998 - 01/24/1999; Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles, 02/24/1999 - 05/09/1999; Brunei Gallery, London, 07/05/1999 - 09/26/1999 The Portrait, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 10/15/2004 - 01/09/2005 Silver and Shawls: India, Europe, and the Colonial Art Market, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/27/2005 - 01/29/2006 Re-View: S424-426 Western Art from 1560 to 1900, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/16/2008 - 06/18/2011 Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance, National Portrait Gallery, London, 10/21/2010 - 01/23/2011; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 02/24/2011 - 06/05/2011 Ancient to Modern, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 06/01/2013 32Q: 2120 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050 Subjects and Contexts Google Art Project Related Works M5114 Maxim Gauci Mirza Abul Hassan Khan Prints Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu