Pen Box with Nasir al-Din Shah and His Court; and Rulers from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format. The pen box is covered inside and out with small scale figural scenes in panels, accompanied by Persian inscriptions in cartouches. On the exterior, elaborate gold scrolls separate images of temporal rulers. On the top in the central panel is Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848-96) with his sons Mas`ud Mirza (Zill al-Sultan) and Kamran Mirza (Na’ib al-Saltana and the future Muzaffar al-Din Shah). Other courtiers are depicted to the right of the king, including the prime minister and the comptroller general. The exterior also depicts legendary and historical rulers and their courts, including Faridun, Manuchihr, Anushirvan, Iskandar, Ardashir, and Dara. Painted on the interior (on the outer walls of the sliding compartment) in slightly recessed panels are scenes with leaders of the spiritual world. These scenes are drawn from Farid al-Din `Attar’s Tadkhkirat al-Awlia (Memoirs of the Saints) and Haji Bektas Veli's Maqalat (Conversations) and include: Mir Findiriski, Shaykh Baha’i, and the escaped lion; Shams Tabrizi casting Mawlana’s book into the water; Shaykh Bayazid Bistami praying by the Tigris; Shaykh Bayazid being struck by disciples; Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan Kharraqani riding a lion with snakes; Ibrahim ibn Adham returning to his mother’s embrace; and the fish returning his mother’s pins to Ibrahim ibn Adham. The inner walls of the sliding compartment area decorated with flowers and male portrait busts.

Dimensions

4.1 × 4 × 23.7 cm (1 5/8 × 1 9/16 × 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.