Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Flowers, Birds, and Butterflies

c. 1850-1875

Artists

Muhammad Husayn ShiraziArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with birds and flowers on a black ground. On the sides, gold scrollwork frames panels with small-scale European figures on horseback and seated in carriages in riverine landscapes. These are flanked by medallions with three-quarter length portraits of European men and women.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

3.8 × 3.8 × 21.7 cm (1 1/2 × 1 1/2 × 8 9/16 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.

Related Artworks

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Bamboo and Cloud Design

Unknown Artist, Meiji-Taishō period, late 19th-early 20th century

Daihan (large-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 centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Stamp with the Head of a Youth for Block Printing on Cotton (Qalamkari)

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Shemshad wood

19th centuryPersian

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Armenian Priests and Europeans

Muhammad Isma`il, 1857-1858

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, brass particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard

19th century

Artists' Tools

Korean moveable metal type

Unknown Artist, 17th-19th century

Cast bronze

17th-19th centuryKorean

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Knarled Plum Branch Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (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 centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Chrysanthemum Design

Unknown Artist, Meiji-Taishō period, late 19th-early 20th century

Kakuban (square-shaped) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with European Women and Birds in a Landscape

Lutf `Ali Shirazi, 1856-1857

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

19th century

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Flying Bird and Cloud Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "hikibori" (pull-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Ink holder

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Steel with enamel decoration

19th century

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink and color on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Dragon Rondel and Scrolling Grass (Karakusa) Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, late 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (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 centuryJapanese