Qajar Youth Seated against Cushions (pricked drawing)

This drawing depicts a young man in Qajar attire leaning back against plump, tasseled cushions; a tray laden with bottles, decanters, and drinking cups is set at his feet. These forms are delineated in ink on the dark ivory paper, and additional definition is provided by traces of black chalk and by shading and line in graphite, probably added with a pencil. The principal contours of the design have been pricked with a pin. Given the absence of traces of pouncing chalk on the drawing itself, it is likely that a transparent sheet of paper was laid over it and that the pin was used to make holes in the upper sheet, along the design contours. The pricked sheet of transparent paper was then laid on another sheet of paper and a pounce bag full of powdered chalk or charcoal tapped over it. When the transparent sheet was removed, particles of chalk or charcoal remained on the paper beneath and served as a guide for drawing the lines in a permanent medium, thus accomplishing the transfer of the original design. After serving its preliminary purpose, this drawing was mounted on an album page assembled from strips of colored papers and fragments of Persian poetry.