Artists' Tools19th-20th century

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.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th-20th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

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.