Pen Box with a Visit to a Sage
c. 1850-1875
Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with vignettes of a master and his disciples, a group of three women in European dress, and pages attending a horse. The sides are decorated with elaborate architectural scenes, interspersed by medallions containing bust portraits of young men and women. On the base a grapevine is painted in gold on a black background.
Dimensions
3.9 × 4.1 × 24.9 cm (1 9/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 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.
Related Artworks
View MoreInk and color on carved wood
19th centuryChineseInk on carved wood
19th centuryChinese
Chūban (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 centuryJapaneseOpaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
19th centurySoft wooden handle with tip splintered to make bristle fibers
JapaneseBlack lithographic crayon on stone
19th centuryFrenchMetal stencil for pochoir
20th centuryAmerican