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

Artists

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.

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.