Pen Box with Muhammad Shah Qajar, Haji Mirza Aqasi, and Other Officials

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends.The top is decorated in horizontal format with a continuous scene of Muhammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834-48) leaning against a cushion, attended by his officials, including on the right Haji Mirza Aqasi (chief minister 1835-1848). Continuous landscape scenes with small scale figures decorate the sides as well: a beardless prince in a horse-drawn carriage accompanied by his retinue on the front side; and soldiers with field artillery on the back side. On the base a flowering grape vine is painted in gold on a red background.

Dimensions

3.5 × 4 × 24.3 cm (1 3/8 × 1 9/16 × 9 9/16 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.