Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with the Virgin and Child, Elderly Saint, and European Women

c. 1850

Artists

Circle of Najaf `AliArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with three cartouches containing figures. The central cartouche contains the Virgin and Child, a kneeling attendant, with and elderly male figure, perhaps a saint, clasping his hands in the background. The upper and lower cartouches feature three-quarter length portraits of European women with flowers in their hair. The sides are decorated with figural vignettes, interspersed with portrait medallions of European women and one man. On both front and back, the central vignette features a gathering of dervishes; rural scenes occupy the outermost vignettes. The base is painted with a gold arabesque against a red ground.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

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

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

3.6 × 3.7 × 23.6 cm (1 7/16 × 1 7/16 × 9 5/16 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.

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