His Imperial Majesty Nasr-ed-Din, Shah of Persia painted by John Vinter on the occasion of his second state visit to Britain in 1889, sold at Bonhams in October 2007 for GBP311,000 and formerly owned by The Imperial Bank of Persia, (which became HSBC Bank Middle East).
Bonhams catalogue reports that "During his three visits to Europe in 1873, 1878 and 1889 the Shah had the opportunity to observe and admire the jewels and orders of the other monarch. He was made Knight of the Garter by Queen Victoria and presented her with the Nishan-i Timsal (Imperial Effigy) during his visit in 1873. This led the Shah to purchase and commission many pieces of jewellery which were added to the Imperial collection in Tehran. According to Meen and Tushingham the Shah's uniform was sometimes covered with precious stones from shoulder to waist, 'a glittering breastplate' in the words of his French physician who added that diamonds as big as walnuts were used for buttons. A news report on the Shah's visit to Queen Victoria at Windsor in 1873 related that he wore five rows of brilliants, with four large rubies on the breast of his uniform coat.
In Vinter's portrait of the Shah, apart from a display of large diamonds, we are able to identify the gold woven belt with its heart-shaped cabochon-cut emerald buckle (estimated at 175 carats). According to Meen and Tushingham this emerald could well be the one that once adorned the Mughal Emperor and which was carried away from Delhi to Persia with other treasures by Nadir Shah in the 18th Century. The belt was last worn by Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (reg. 1941-1979) at his Coronation in 1967. The diamond medallion Nasr al-Din Shah is wearing around his neck may be the Darya-i Nur, the Nur al-Ain or the Taj-i Mah, three fabled Golconda diamonds which were mined during the Mughal reign. See V. B. Meen and A. D. Tushingham, Crown Jewels of Iran, Toronto 1968."
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