IRAN, 17TH-19TH CENTURY

The form of this diadem resembles those which appear in paintings dating from the 17^th century. Frequently women are depicted with a triangular object on their foreheads, tied at the back with textile straps. In some cases, as in the figural cuerda seca tile panel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.03.9c), the diadem seems to be made of fabric. However, in paintings such as one in the British Museum (acc.no.1977,0228,0.7), the details indicate that these diadems were sometimes made in gold. Further depictions of women wearing gold diadems are painted on the walls of the Chihil Sutun in Isfahan, such as in the central panel on the eastern wall. Fashions changed over the subsequent centuries, and by the Qajar period a diadem like this would have appeared deliberately archaic. The aureole in the middle may have been intended for a jewel, or possibly an enamelled portrait.