Lot 37
PERSIAN SPHINX
YERVAND NAHAPETIAN (IRANIAN-ARMENIAN 1916-2006)
Auction: 09 December 2026 from 14:00 GMT
Description
watercolour on paper, signed lower right ‘YERVAND ISFAHAN, 1971’ depicting a Persian Sphinx (or a winged lion-griffin) with a Persian queen
Dimensions
sight seen 35cm x 53cm
Provenance
Colonel Eric Hamburger (1905-1988); thence by descent.
Col. Hamburger worked in Ispahan for the British Council after the war during the 1950s and 1960s.
Footnote
Yervand Nahapetian (1916–2006) was a pioneering Iranian-Armenian artist who co-founded the Isfahan watercolor school. Training from age seven under masters like Sargis Khachatryan and Persian miniaturist Haj Mosavver-al-Molk, he developed a hyper-precise style that uniquely blended Eastern and Western techniques. His vast body of work is most famous for its intricate architectural landmarks, ethnographic city scenes, and frequent paintings of desert landscapes and camel caravans