COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA THAT BELONGED TO ALBERT JOSEPH GAS - Lot 52

COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA THAT BELONGED TO ALBERT JOSEPH GASTEIGER (1823–1890), KNOWN AS “GASTAGER KHAN,” DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AND MILITARY CONSTRUCTION FOR THE PERSIAN EMPIRE FROM 1860 TO 1888 DURING THE REIGN OF SHAH NASSER AL-DIN (1848–1896) (lots 52 through 52 E.). PERSIAN EMPIRE. Set of THIRTEEN MINIATURE PORTRAITS with polychrome enamel decoration, oblong or pear-shaped, two of which are mounted as lapel pins, and likely depicting members of the imperial family, perhaps one of them an idealized depiction of Shah Nasser Al-Din. Made in the second half of the 19th century. Dimensions: ranging from 33 x 25 mm for the largest to 16 x 13 mm for the smallest. (Minor enamel chips). History: Albert Joseph Gasteiger Khan (1823–1890), an Austrian engineer in the service of Nasser al-Din Shah, was one of the principal architects of the modernization of Qajar-era Persian infrastructure. In charge of the state’s civil and military construction projects, he oversaw major road and bridge construction projects, notably the Mazandaran Road. Promoted to the rank of general (Mir Panj) and honored with the title of Khan, he remains one of the few Europeans to have held such a prominent position within the 19th-century Persian administration.