Pen Box with Amorous Couples and Portrait Medallions

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with three cartouches framed by elaborate gold scrollwork, all set against a black background filled with floating blossoms. The central cartouche features a vignette of couples reclining against cushions in an interior setting; they drink wine and embrace. To the left and right are portrait busts of European women with flowers in their hair. The sides are composed and decorated in the same manner with couples engaged in amorous play and portrait busts of European women. The ends bear portrait busts of men. The base is painted with an arabesque on a gold background.

Dimensions

3.7 × 3.6 × 23.6 cm (1 7/16 × 1 7/16 × 9 5/16 in.)

Provenance

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.