AN ENAMELLED GOLD POCKET WATCH WITH PORTRAIT OF MUZAFFAR AL-DIN SHAH QAJAR (R.1896-1907)SWITZERLAND FOR THE PERSIAN MARKET, EARLY 20TH CENTURYAN ENAMELLED GOLD POCKET WATCH WITH PORTRAIT OF MUZAFFAR AL-DIN SHAH QAJAR (R.1896-1907)SWITZERLAND FOR THE PERSIAN MARKET, EARLY 20TH CENTURYSwiss minute repeating movement , white enamel dial with Roman numerals, the gold case with polychrome enamelled portrait of Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, the back cover enamelled with shir o khorshid emblem, engraved on the inner lid2 1/8in. (5.5cm.) diam.Inscriptions:REPETITON A MINUTES CHRONOGRAPHE NO.13417 FOURNISSEUR DE LA COUR IMPERIALE DE S.M. LE SCHAH DE PERSEEuropean watches were highly valued in Iran from as early as the Safavid period. Pocket watches are depicted as part of the royal regalia in early Qajar paintings, see for instance a painting of Fath ‘Ali Shah by Mirza Baba from an important copy of the Diwan-i Khaqan, now in the Royal Collection (Julian Raby, Qajar Portraits, exhibition catalogue, London, 1999, no.111, pp.40-43). The fashion for watches seems to have developed from then. It is thought that the fashion for watches decorated with a portrait of the monarch came from Ottoman Turkey, where they first appeared under Sultan Abdülmecid I (r.1839-61). A pocket watch also decorated with an enamelled portrait of Muzaffar al-Din Shah is in the Khalili Collection (Stephen Vernoit, Occidentalism, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, London, 1997, p.124, no.69). Others have sold in these Rooms, 26 October 2017, lot 125 and Sotheby's London, 7 October 2015, lot 399.细节 AN ENAMELLED GOLD POCKET WATCH WITH PORTRAIT OF MUZAFFAR AL-DIN SHAH QAJAR (R.1896-1907)SWITZERLAND FOR THE PERSIAN MARKET, EARLY 20TH CENTURYSwiss minute repeating movement , white enamel dial with Roman numerals, the gold case with polychrome enamelled portrait of Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, the back cover enamelled with shir o khorshid emblem, engraved on the inner lid2 1/8in. (5.5cm.) diam.