Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Muhammad Shah Qajar and Nur `Ali Shah

1842-1843

Artists

Abu’l-Hasan IsfahaniArtist

Description

Rectangular box with lift-off lid secured by a chain. The exterior of the lid is decorated in vertical format with a portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834 48) seated on a chair like throne. The inside of the lid bears an image of a young dervish standing in an interior, with a staff and flowers. An inscription identifies the figure as Nur `Ali Shah (d. 1797), leader of the Ni’mat’ullahi Sufi order. The outside of the box is decorated with hunting scenes. 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 century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

5.2 × 6.3 × 27.7 cm (2 1/16 × 2 1/2 × 10 7/8 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.

Related Artworks

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Miniature Pattern (Komon) of Feathers and Wish-Granting Jewels (Cintamani)

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Koban (small-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving) technique

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Stylized Floral Grid Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving) technique

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen box with scenes from Nizami's tale of Bahram Gur and the Seven Princesses

Muhammad Kazim ibn Najaf `Ali, 1878-1879

Watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

19th centuryPersian

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink and color on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Ink holder

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Gilt steel

19th century

Artists' Tools

Double-sided wooden printing block: on one side the keyblock to one of Hiroshige's Tōtō meishō sakatsukushi no uchi images, on the reverse the keyblock to Twenty Warriors by Utagawa Yoshitora(?)

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重, 19th century

Carved cherry wood

19th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Pine Branch Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Koban (small-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Dragon Rondel and Scrolling Grass (Karakusa) Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, late 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th centuryJapanese