1890-1891
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with five cartouches. In the center, a European cityscape rises on the bank of a river. This is flanked by circular cartouches containing portrait busts of women, which in turn are flanked by oblongs with turkeys. The sides are similarly decorated with circular and oblong cartouches containing female portrait busts, with ducks and chickens, and landscapes with small figures. On the base, rabbits flank an elongated cartouche with a river scene.
3.7 × 3.7 × 22 cm (1 7/16 × 1 7/16 × 8 11/16 in.)
Ezzat-Malek Soudavar, Geneva, Switzerland (by 2014), by descent; to her son Abolala Soudavar, Houston, Texas (2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014. Note: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar (1913-2014) formed this collection over a period of sixty years. She purchased the works of art on the international art market.
Ink on carved wood
19th centuryChineseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving), "dōgubori" (punch-carving), and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques
19th-20th centuryJapaneseInk with molded decoration and molded inscriptions on base and edge; edge inscription reads "Hainan Songmei Dongpo fa zhi"
19th centuryChineseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseWood-engraving block (uncut) with a drawing in graphite
19th centuryAmericanChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapaneseCut paper
19th-20th centuryAmericanPaper with silk-web reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapaneseDark green nephrite with black flects and gray veins (so-called spinach-green jade), the stone of Siberian origin, probably from the area around Lake Baikal
18th-19th centuryChineseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseInk and color on carved wood
19th centuryChineseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapanese