Pen Box wtih Shah Isma'il at the Battle of Marv
Artists' Tools18th century

Pen Box wtih Shah Isma'il at the Battle of Marv

1777-1778

Artists

Muhammad SadiqArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with a scene that probably represents the battle of Marv in 1510 between the Safavid and Uzbek armies. The sides are decorated with a continuous landscape with herdsmen tending cattle, sheep, goats, and horsemen crossing bridges over rivers. The base is decorated with a gold arabesque on a red background. The sides of the compartment feature panels filled with blossoms on a red ground.

Classification
Artists' Tools
Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard; metal ink holder
Period
Qajar period
Century
18th century
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Department
Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

3.7 × 4.1 × 23.5 cm (1 7/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 1/4 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.

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Pen Box wtih Shah Isma'il at the Battle of Marv | Harvard Art Museums | KenAI