Pen Box with Riverscape, Female Portraits, and Lions in Medallions
c. 1880-1910
Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with seven cartouches. The central cartouche contains a moon-lit landscape; this is flanked by four circular medallions with female portraits, and at the far left and right oblong cartouches with lions. The interstitial space is filled with a gold arabesque on a black background. The sides are similarly composed with an elongated cartouche in the center with a rustic genre scene. A continuous design of birds and flowers covers the ends. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a red background.
Dimensions
4.3 × 4.3 × 23.8 cm (1 11/16 × 1 11/16 × 9 3/8 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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