Pen Box with Woman Wearing Beaded Necklace

Artists

Description

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with a female portrait in a circular medallion flanked by birds perching in hazelnut branches on a brown ground. The woman lifts her beaded necklace with one hand. The sides are similarly decorated with oval portrait medallions alternating with birds and hazelnuts. On the base a gold arabesque is painted on a black background.

Dimensions

3.1 × 3 × 18.5 cm (1 1/4 × 1 3/16 × 7 5/16 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.