Pen Box with Dervish Seated in a Woodland
c. 1800-1850
Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with a youthful dervish seated on the ground. He wears a roughly textured brown cloak and holds a staff in one hand; his begging bowl hangs from a nearby tree branch. A small deer and a broken tree trunk occupy the foreground, while large trees and small buildings fill the background. The sides are painted with a continuous wooded landscape with miscellaneous buildings and small figures engaged in hunting and agricultural activities. On the base, a flowering vine with grapes is painted in gold on a red background.
Dimensions
3.8 × 4.1 × 23.4 cm (1 1/2 × 1 5/8 × 9 3/16 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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