Pen Box with Elderly Saint and Riverine Landscapes

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends.The top is decorated in vertical format with three cartouches. In the center, an elderly figure, perhaps a saint, with his eyes closed, clasps his hands; in the background is a white church with two domes. In the lower cartouche, a donkey bearing packs passes between buildings in the middle ground, and a waterwheel holds the foreground. The upper cartouche features water fowl and a white building. The sides are similarly composed, with a vignette of dervishes or holy men in the center and rural scenes at the left and right. The base and sliding compartment are decorated with gold arabesque on a red background.

Dimensions

3.3 × 3.8 × 22.2 cm (1 5/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 3/4 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.