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, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryCarved and engraved wood; ten bordered columns of text per recto and per verso; twenty two characters per column. Text in Chinese characters.
18th-19th centuryKoreanOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centuryCarved cherry wood
19th centuryJapaneseShemshad wood
19th centuryPersianOne of a pair of chūban (medium-sized) sheets of minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving), "hikibori" (pull-carving), and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques
19th-20th centuryJapaneseChūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving) and "dōgubori" (punch-carving) techniques
19th-20th centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor and lacquer over papier-maché
18th-19th centuryPersianInk and color on carved wood
19th centuryChineseChūban (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 centuryJapaneseDouble-sided carved wooden printing block
19th centuryJapanese