A pair of inscribed Sèvres saucers made for Āqā Khan Nūrī, the prime minister of Persia, dated 1857 Each with a gilt 'nasta'liq' inscription within a foliate or floral wreath surrounded by gilt scrollwork and surrounded by further flowers, one with a blue-ground border, the other with a pink-ground border, 12.4 and 12.5cm diam., crowned N marks and 57 stencilled in iron-red, S.57 stencilled in green, painter's mark ER inside footrim and incised marks (2) Footnotes: The inscriptions translate as 'He (God). Mirza Aqa Khan I'timad al-Dawlah, the Prime Minister of the Sublime Government of Iran'. Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri (1807-1865) was a prominent Qajar statesman who served as Prime Minister of Iran from 1851 to 1858 under Naser al-Din Shah. A member of the influential Nuri family of Mazandaran, he rose through the military and administrative bureaucracy before succeeding his rival Amir Kabir as the kingdom's chief minister. Although often remembered for his opposition to Amir Kabir and his conservative style of government, Nuri was also an active architect of Qajar foreign policy during a period of intense imperial rivalry. In the aftermath of the Crimean War and amid growing tensions with Britain over Herat, he sought to broaden Iran's diplomatic options beyond its traditional reliance on Britain and Russia. To that end, he dispatched Farrokh Khan Ghaffari to Europe in 1856 and pursued a strategy of cultivating relations with Emperor Napoleon III of France, hoping French mediation would strengthen Iran's international position, help secure a settlement with Britain, and provide support for Iran's interests in the Herat dispute. Nuri viewed closer ties with France as a means of preserving Iran's independence and broadening its diplomatic influence among the major European powers. Despite these efforts, the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57 ended unfavourably for Iran, culminating in the Treaty of Paris and the loss of Iranian claims to Herat. Political opposition at court subsequently weakened Nuri's position, and he was dismissed in 1858. After years of exile and declining health, he died in Qom in 1865. The saucers were produced during the crucial period of Franco-Persian diplomatic engagement and during Farrokh Khan's mission to Paris (1856-57), which included the negotiations surrounding the Treaty of Paris. It is highly likely they were part of a diplomatic gift. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing