1886-1887
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top and sides are covered in a gold arabesque painted on a black background. On the base, gold flowers are painted on a red background.
3.6 × 3.8 × 22.3 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 3/4 in.)
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.
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, platy hematite particles, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryEtched zinc printing plate
19th centuryFrenchChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques; with ink
19th-20th centuryJapaneseOpaque and semi-opaque watercolor and shell-gold flakes on prepared pasteboard under shellac varnish
18th-19th centuryDaihan (large-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 centuryJapaneseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChinesePale greenish-white nephrite; brush head made of fur
19th centuryChineseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique
19th-20th centuryJapaneseGilt steel
19th centuryChūban (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 centuryJapaneseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving), "dōgubori" (punch-carving), and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques
19th-20th centuryJapaneseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChinese