Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Flowers and Birds in Medallions

c. 1872-1873

Artists

Mustafa al-Husayni al-ImamiArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format. The top and sides are similarly composed with elaborate borders framing cartouches of various shapes and sizes that contain vignettes of birds and flowers. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a red background.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper alloy particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

Dimensions

4.1 × 4.3 × 24.6 cm (1 5/8 × 1 11/16 × 9 11/16 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.

Related Artworks

Artists' Tools

Ink holder

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Steel

19th century

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

Cylindrical Brushpot with Decoration of Figures on a Raft

Unknown Artist, 19th-early 20th century

Carved bamboo

19th-20th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Flowering Vine 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 "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Meeting of Shams-i Tabrizi and Rumi, and Other Figural Scenes

Circle of Najaf `Ali, c. 1850-1875

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

19th century

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Vine and Undulating Stripe 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 "hikibori" (pull-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques, with "ito-ire" (silk-web) reinforcement

19th-20th 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 Tortoiseshell Medallion and Lichen 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 "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Stream and Wild Flower Design

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

Kakuban (square-shaped) 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

Artists' Tools

Wood-engraving Block: NOW

Eric Gill, 19th-20th century

19th-20th centuryBritish

Artists' Tools

Korean moveable metal type

Unknown Artist, 17th-19th century

Cast bronze

17th-19th centuryKorean

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Miniature Pattern (Komon) of Stylized Flowers

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) and "dōgubori" (punch-carving) techniques

19th-20th centuryJapanese