Pen Box with Portrait Medallions on Floral Ground

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with three lobed ogival medallions containing portraits busts of a young man (center) and two women. The interstitial space is filled with mixed flowers on a sparkling red background. Anchor pendants above and below carry the inscription. The sides are similarly covered with mixed flowers on a red ground. The base is painted with a gold arabesque on a black ground.

Dimensions

3.7 × 3.8 × 22.4 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 13/16 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.