Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Inscriptions, Portrait Medallions, Animal Combats, and Flowers; with Ink Holder

April 8, 1813

Artists

Muhammad ibn MahdiArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with cartouches containing Arabic and Persian inscriptions and floral sprays, and medallions containing bust portraits of an Indian and a European youth. On the sides, the floral motifs alternate with cartouches with animals in combat. The outer sides of the sliding compartment also bear inscription cartouches. The multiple inscriptions, written in naskh and riqa’ scripts, praise the high quality of calligraphy on the pen box as well as the merits of calligraphy and calligraphers in general.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard; with ink holder

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

5 × 5.4 × 26.7 cm (1 15/16 × 2 1/8 × 10 1/2 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.

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