'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎313] (358/714)

TEHERAN
313
Marmor, or white marble throne of Kerim Khan Zend, wrought of
marble of Yezd, and brought from Shiraz. 1 This great structure
which does not m the least degree resemble a throne according to
Western ideas, but might rather be compared to an elevated plat
form .surrounded by a pierced marble balustrade, rests upon low
twisted pillars and upon the shoulders of grotesque figures represent
ing pus or divs. Two steps supported by recumbent lions lead up to
it, and the throne itself consists of a two-fold terrace, upon the back
part of which, supported by a pearl-embroidered cushion, sits, or
rather kneels (this being the Persian substitute for sitting), upon
State occasions the King of Kings. In front of the throne is a
place for a fountain, running water being another of the appur
tenances of Eastern royalty. 2 The roof of the front part of the
throne room, where it is open to the garden, is sustained by two
immense columns with deep spiral flutings, also of Yezd marble,
and constructed by order of Kerim Khan for his palace at Shiraz.
A passage from the court of the Talar leads into another and
larger court, where is the main and State entrance into the palace.
Th® It was under a threshold, opening out of the arcade
useum between the two, that were deposited by Agha
Mohammed Shah the bones of Nadir Shah and Kerim Khan,*
that he might have the exquisite luxury, as he passed in and out,
of trampling upon the dust of his hereditary foes. Here are a large
doorway, and a broad flight of carpeted steps, leading up between
great bronzes and porcelain vases to the State apartments. As
I mounted them three times during my stay at Teheran, and
became familiar with the rooms to which they conduct, I may
here describe the latter. At the top of the staircase is the Shah's
library, a small room which has been neatly fitted, after the
' rihere 18 an ^lustration of it, from a photograph, in Benjamins Persia and
the Persians, p. 222, and a superb engraving of the whole Talar in P. Coste's
Monuments Modernes de la Perse. Some writers have supposed this also to be an
Indian throne, and to have belonged to Nadir's spoil. Others have declared that
it was wrought of Maragha marble. In Kerim Khan's day it stood in the talar
ot the palace, that is now the office of the Indo-European Telegraph in Shiraz,
rom whence, along with the fluted columns, it was removed by Agha Mohammed
bhah to Teheran.
r ' The symbollsm of this custom is variously interpreted either as signifying
lg be i ing ' therefore » of good omen, or as typifying the main source of
wealth m a thirsty land, and being consequently a mark of luxury.
Those of Kerim Khan were said to have been afterwards restored to their
original resting-place.