Pen Box with Rulers from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with five cartouches containing small-figure scenes of pre-Islamic Persian rulers, and inscriptions. Included are Kay Khusraw, Kay Kavus, Manuchihr, Faridun, and Anushirvan. The sides and base are similarly decorated. On the outer walls of the sliding compartment are images drawn from Farid al-Din `Attar’s Memoirs of the Saints, including Sultan Bayazid struck by his disciples, Ustadh Salmani shaving the head of Ibrahim ibn Adham, and Mir Abu’l-Qasim taming a lion in the presence of Shaykh Bahai. Scenes painted on the inside of the drawer include Yusuf and Zuylaykha, Farhad at Mount Bisutun, and Khusraw spying Shirin at her bath. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a red background.

Dimensions

4.2 × 4.2 × 25.1 cm (1 5/8 × 1 5/8 × 9 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.