The French and English commercial envoys both had an audience with the Shah [Safi II] on the 21st of September 1671. They were taken at 8 am from their lodgings by their relative conducteurs, and made to dismount 150 paces from the Royal Palace, before being led in. The Frenchman had his “second”, his surgeon and his interpreter by his side – with the latter holding a letter in the name of the French Company in both hands, in a bag of golden embroidery. Then came two domestics, twelve guards, and several footmen – local people, “dressed in their fashion, un fort bel equipage”.
At 10 am, after an appropriately prolonged wait, both the envoys were presented to the Shah, and a quarter of an hour later, all the presents were processed past Safi.
The French presents were, gulp, wow! In contrast, the English were very stingy – and very dull.
From where the King looked into the Square, it was impossible for him to really see the presents . . but then the Kings of Persia “are so accustomed to receive presents, that they don’t deign to look at them”. The Ministers tell the king where the present comes from, and what it consists of, and if the King asks to see something close-up, it’s sent into the Harem, or wherever the King orders.
The French gave:
A chain of emeralds and diamonds
An emerald ring
Another ring, made from a ruby
A portrait box, with diamonds and emeralds, and the portrait of the King in enamel
Two large lustres of crystal
Four crystal mirrors, each five foot high, three with a border of gold-plated copper, the other with a border of crystal
A painting of the King of France, life size, in a frame of gilded wood
A purse of ambergris, weighing 58 ounces
Two bottles of clove essence
Four pieces of gold brocade, each 20 aunes long
Three pieces of satin
Five marcs of gold and silk lace
Seven pieces of white cloth, the finest made in India, each 4.5 aunes long
Six pieces of tapestry of silk and gold, from Savonnerie
Two thousand and 33 aunes of Paris cloth
Four telescopes, each three foot long
306 pieces of Chinese porcelain, of various sizes
Seventy pounds of tea
Four large basins full of white candles from Goa
Four rifles damafquines d’un ouvrage fort beau & fort delicat
Two pairs of pistols of the same quality
Four canons of a new invention, on their gun-carriage
Two chiseled coulevrines, with the arms of the Company on the embrasure
Fifteen bales de pepper, each weighing 130 pounds
While the English only managed:
Twenty pieces of English cloth
Forty turbans, of silk and gold, “of diverse price”
Forty pieces of satin, “of diverse sorts”
Thirty pieces of taffeta
Twenty pieces of taffeta raye of gold and silver
Twelve pieces of damask
Forty cases of knives and forks, with amber handles
So now I know who I want to give me presents!
Today I was skim-reading what is billed as the first complete edition of Chardin’s Voyages – from 1725 – and I came across a description of the presents given to Shah Safi II by the English and the French ‘Companies’ in 1671.
Look away now, English readers, ’cause the French (more than!) outperformed the English.