1840-1841
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 against a tan background. On the base a grape vine is painted on a red background.
3.9 × 4.1 × 22.3 cm (1 9/16 × 1 5/8 × 8 3/4 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.
Ink on carved wood
19th centuryChineseOne of a pair of chūban (medium-sized) sheets of minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique
19th-20th centuryJapaneseOil paint, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryGilt steel
19th centuryOpaque and semi-opaque watercolor and shell-gold flakes on prepared pasteboard under shellac varnish
18th-19th centuryShemshad wood
19th centuryPersianInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChineseDaihan (large-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving), "hikibori" (pull-carving), and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement
19th-20th centuryJapaneseShemshad wood
19th centuryPersianSteel with silver filigree
19th century