An anonymous notable stands at attention looking straight out towards the camera. Holding a baton and decorated with a number of bogus medals alluding to his successful career in law enforcement, the figure stands in front of a historical-looking entrance façade with surveillance cameras both to imply the police presence within the Qajar state and remind the viewer that this is a fantasy mixing past and present. The so-called sheriff seems to reference Mahmud Khan Kalantar Nuri, the mayor of Tehran, and a well-known public figure, depicted in the moment before following the shah’s command to quell the unrest from the bread riots of 1861 (seen in M.2016.138.10 and M.2016.138.11). The sheriff, however, would not be successful at his task, while his brutal treatment of the populace led to his own violent death.
