c. 1850-1900
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format. The top and sides are decorated with a continuous frieze of flowering plants with birds and flying insects on a gold background. On the base, a gold arabesque is loosely painted on a red background.
3.8 × 3.9 × 22.4 cm (1 1/2 × 1 9/16 × 8 13/16 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.
Lithographic stone
19th centuryNorwegianOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard; with ink holder
19th centuryBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
19th centuryKoreanCast bronze
17th-19th centuryKoreanOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass and tin layers on pasteboard
19th centuryPersianWoodblock
19th centuryNorwegianChūban (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 centuryJapaneseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques; with ink
19th-20th centuryJapanese