Artists' Tools18th century

Pen Box with Portrait Medallions on Floral Ground

1787-1788

Artists

Muhammad SadiqArtist

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.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper alloy particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard

Period

Qajar period

Century

18th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

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.

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