Pen Box with Flowers and Birds

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format. The top and sides are densely decorated with a continuous frieze of birds and flying insects in mixed plants that sprout from the ground line. Plants include roses, hazelnuts, iris, hyacinths, and primrose. The base is painted with a gold arabesque on a black ground.

Dimensions

3.6 × 4.2 × 24 cm (1 7/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 7/16 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.