Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Flowers and Birds

c. 1850-1900

Description

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.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

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

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

3.8 × 3.9 × 22.4 cm (1 1/2 × 1 9/16 × 8 13/16 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

Double-sided wooden printing block: one side showing a Kuniyoshi image, the reverse showing Sawamura Tanosuke from the series Mitate rokkasen

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳, 19th century

Carved wood

19th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Elderly Saint and Riverine Landscapes

Najaf `Ali, 1852-1853

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

19th century

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with European Woman in Medallion and Floral Sprays

Unknown Artist, 1880-1900

Oil paint, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

19th century

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Meeting of Shams-i Tabrizi and Rumi, and Other Figural Scenes

Circle of Najaf `Ali, c. 1850-1875

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

19th century

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Butterfly and Fern 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 "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil (1 of 2?) with Cherry Petal and Stylized Cloverleaf Design

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

One of a pair(?) of koban (small-sized) sheets of minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques; with black ink

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen box with scenes from Nizami's tale of Bahram Gur and the Seven Princesses

Muhammad Kazim ibn Najaf `Ali, 1878-1879

Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

19th centuryPersian

Artists' Tools

Lithographic Stone: Kennett Hardware House

Unidentified Artist, 19th century

Stone

19th centuryAmerican

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 Tortoiseshell Medallion and Lichen 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 "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil Fragment with Circular Grass and Flower Design

Unknown Artist, Meiji-Shōwa 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, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th centuryJapanese