Pen Box with Bathing and Reclining European Women
Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Bathing and Reclining European Women

1853-1854

Artists

Najaf `AliArtist

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with vignettes of semi-nude European women in landscape, interspersed with two circular medallions with portrait busts of European women. The sides are similarly composed with figural vignettes interspersed with oval medallions with portrait busts of young men and women. The base is painted with grape vines, birds, and animals in gold on a black 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

4 × 4.3 × 24.3 cm (1 9/16 × 1 11/16 × 9 9/16 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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Pen Box with Bathing and Reclining European Women | Harvard Art Museums | KenAI