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Untitled

Mirza Akbar

1840

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century Architectural

Dominant colour

Untitled is a 1840 by Mirza Akbar, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Mirza Akbar
When & what style?: 1840 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This is an architectural drawing from 19th-century Iran. Mirza Akbar made it between 1840 and 1870. It’s part of a huge set of 238 designs once kept by a working architect in Tehran. It shows plans and patterns for tilework, stucco, and wood. Some designs mix old Iranian styles with new European touches. Only a few of these scrolls survive today. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum for more.

The story of this work

Overview

This architectural drawing on squared paper in black ink depicts a mihrab, the niche in a mosque. Part of a portfolio of 238 designs from nineteenth-century Qajar Tehran, it was likely created by Mirza Akbar, a court architect active in the city earlier in the century. The collection, which includes tilework, stucco, woodwork, and architectural plans, reflects both traditional Iranian styles and European decorative influences. The drawings were exchanged with architect Caspar Purdon Clarke in 1874–75 during his work renovating the British embassy in Tehran.

Read the full account in the museum source.