A PATEK PHILLIPPE POCKET-WATCH MADE FOR THE ISLAMIC MARKET DATED 1300 AH/1882 AD, SWITZERLAND. Photo Sotheby's

the round white enamel dial with Roman numerals, blue steel hour, minute hands, secondary dial, the gilt-metal case engraved and decorated with lapis blue and carnelian red enamels and set with cut-diamonds, each side with a central cusped medallion enclosing a monumental inscription encircled by a border of tulip plants; 4.2cm. diam. Lot Sold: 39,650 GBP

inscriptions: Surur al-Saltanah, 1300 AH (1882-3 AD)

Surur al-Saltana was a wife of Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, later titled hazrat-e 'ulya ('Her Highness') (M. Bamdad, Dictionary of National Biography of Iran, 1700-1900, vol III, Tehran, 1966, p.152, footnote, 1). She was the daughter of Firuz Mirza Farman-farma (son of 'Abbas Mirza Na'ib al-Saltana, son of Fath'ali Shah), gave birth to a son on the first year of Muzaffar al-Din's accession to the throne (1313 AH/1896 AD) and was the power at court (Ghulam-Husayn Afzal al-Mulk (a historian of Muzaffar al-Din Shah's period. His book covers the events of the Shah's reign between 1313/1896 and 1317/1899)', Tarikh-e Afzal, edited by M. Ettehadieh & S. Sa'dvandiyan, Tehran, 1361, pp.15 and 144).

Sotheby's. Arts of The Islamic World. London | 06 Apr 2011 - www.sothebys.com