Most of Muhammed Sadiq pieces attributed to him were dated between the mid to late-18th century. As a pupil of Muhammed ʿAli Ashraf, his tutor was noted to have an influence on Sadiq's painting style when it comes to his sense of detail.
Sadiq was known to use oil on canvas, as well as lacquer and fresco paintings, leading to his work becoming part of architectural builds. In an era where Persian art had been influenced by European styles for quite some time, Sadiq rejected the then-common inspirations and took to developing a method of painting that spoke to Persian visuals. This included warm colours, involving motifs such as fruit and flowers and a distinct method of stylising the human face; these collective depictions became influential on the artists who would come after Sadiq, in particular for the Qajar court.
This piece is noted as a "Painting of a Young Beauty" upon cloth, and using opaque watercolours to create a soft quality about the contrasting values, making the highlights and shadows gradual on top of the cloth texture. The stylisation of the face is a prominent stylisation recognisable to this era of Persian art, with a rounded face and small mouth, but there are characteristics noted of Sadiq's own style, namely the shape and size of the eyes and her hair parting in the centre. It is a simple piece, but genuine in what it seeks to depict: a young woman, or girl, as herself.
The portrait is also accompanied by a separate border that was signed by another student of ʿAli Ashraf, ʿAli Akbar, who specialised in flower painting.
This 18th-century watercolor, titled "Painting of a Young Beauty," is a classic example of Persian portraiture from the Zand period (c. 1740s). It was created by the Iranian artist Muhammad Sadiq, who was a leading figure in developing the distinctive style of this era.
