One of the many challenges of Nasir al-Din’s reign was the escalating interference of England and Russia as each sought control over traditional Persian territories. A pair of prints (see M.2016.138.6) ironically emphasizes the shah’s impotence against such foreign domination, personified by the ambassadors. Here, the British ambassador uses a leash and whip to control the shah, feminized and sexualized by black lace stockings. The sexualized depiction of the shah references a letter the artist found supposedly written by Nasir al-Din Shah in a moment of desperation in his dealings with England in which he notes he did not want to succumb to their greater power by behaving like: “a loose woman who gives in as soon as she is asked to remove her underwear.”