Pen Box with Lovers, Flowers, and Birds
c. 1850-1875
Description
Cover and sliding compartment with square ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with a central medallion containing an embracing couple; to the right and left, birds perch in flowering plants that sprout from the ground line, painted on a black background. The sides feature birds and flowering plants interspersed with oval medallions containing portrait busts of young men and women in Persian and European dress. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a black background.
Dimensions
5.4 × 6.1 × 27.4 cm (2 1/8 × 2 3/8 × 10 13/16 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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