c. 1875-1890
Flat case with sliding lid and rounded ends. The top is in horizontal format with three panels containing birds, flowers, and hazelnuts. On the base a central panel contains a view of a town clustered at the edge of a bay, with mountains in the distance. To the left and right are floating bouquets.
1.5 × 2.8 × 13.5 cm (9/16 × 1 1/8 × 5 5/16 in.)
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.
Wood, secured with wooden pegs, and with brass fittings
19th centuryKoreanMetal
18th-19th centuryRussianLacquered wood with brass fittings and with inlays of mother of pearl, tortoiseshell, twisted wire, and metal filings
19th-20th centuryKoreanWood
19th-20th centuryThaiBronze, with damascened overlays of cut sheet silver, the bronze with induced gunmetal gray surface color
19th-20th centuryKoreanMaki-e designs in gold and silver on nashi-ji lacquer ground
19th centuryJapaneseLacquered Papier-mâché
19th centuryKoreanLacquer
17th-19th centuryJapaneseBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration painted in underglaze cobalt blue
19th-20th centuryChineseSilver
19th centuryBritishBlue-and-white ware: porcelain with decoration reserved in white against a cobalt blue ground, the central medallion on the cover with molded decoration under pale, sky-blue glaze
18th-19th centuryChineseLacquer on wood with decoration in black, gold, silver, and red utilizing the hiramaki-e (low-relief sprinkled design), takamaki-e (high-relief sprinkled design) and nashiji ("pear-skinned" ground) techniques
19th centuryJapanese