Artists' Tools19th century

Pen Box with Woman Wearing Beaded Necklace

c. 1875-1900

Artists

Circle of Najaf `AliArtist

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.

Classification

Artists' Tools

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

Period

Qajar period

Century

19th century

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Department

Department of Islamic & Later Indian Art

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.

Related Artworks

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Flowers and Putti

Lutf 'Ali Shirazi, 19th century

Opaque and semi-opaque watercolor on prepared pasteboard under non-original varnish

19th century

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil (1 of 2) with "Ikat" Effect Design and Geometric Forms

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

One of a pair of chūban (medium-sized) sheets of minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Stylized Triangular Fern Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

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 centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Pen Box with Woman Wearing Beaded Necklace, Attended by Elderly Man

Haydar `Ali ibn Muhammad Isma`il, 1879-1880

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

19th century

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Stylized Broom and Flower Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

Chūban (medium-sized) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "kiribori" (drill-carving), "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Woodblock for replicating Painting Manual by Noted Shanghai Artists (Haishang mingren huagao)

Unknown Artist, c. 1885

Ink on carved wood

19th centuryChinese

Artists' Tools

Foliate Water Dropper with Landscape Decor and with Characters around the Side Reading 'Ta Nam Cha Son Kui Pok' ([May you have] many sons and grandsons [who attain] wealth and good fortune)

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Blue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue

19th centuryKorean

Artists' Tools

Stamp with the Head of a Youth for Block Printing on Cotton (Qalamkari)

Unknown Artist, 19th century

Shemshad wood

19th centuryPersian

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil with Peony and Waterfall Design

Unknown Artist, Meiji-Taishō period, late 19th-early 20th century

Kakuban (square-shaped) minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) technique

19th-20th centuryJapanese

Artists' Tools

Katagami Textile Stencil (1 of 2?) with Cherry Petal and Stylized Cloverleaf Design

Unknown Artist, Late Edo-Meiji period, 19th-early 20th century

One of a pair(?) of koban (small-sized) sheets of minogami (mulberry bark paper) treated with persimmon juice and cut using the "dōgubori" (punch-carving) and "tsukibori" (thrust-carving) techniques; with black ink

19th-20th centuryJapanese