Harvard Art Museums > 2014.319: Pen Box with Holy Family and Female Portrait Medallions Artists' Tools Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Pen Box with Holy Family and Female Portrait Medallions (Najaf `Ali) , 2014.319,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 30, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351815. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.319 People Najaf `Ali Title Pen Box with Holy Family and Female Portrait Medallions Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date 1848-1849 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351815 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.9 × 3.9 × 22.1 cm (1 9/16 × 1 9/16 × 8 11/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: يا شاه نجف۱۲۶۵ O Lord of Najaf! 1848-49 Provenance Recorded Ownership History 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. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of A. Soudavar in memory of his mother Ezzat-Malek Soudavar Accession Year 2014 Object Number 2014.319 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with three cartouches framed in gold scrollwork all set against a black background filled with floating bouquets of flowers. In the center, the Holy Family is depicted with female attendants and an angel. On the left and right are portrait busts of European women with candlestick curls and flowers in their hair. The sides are composed in the same manner, but the central cartouches contain scenes of fortified towns by a shore. The base of the cover and sides of the sliding compartment bear gold arabesques on a black ground. Publication History Massumeh Farhad and Mary McWilliams, ed., A Collector’s Passion: Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Harvard Art Museums and Freer/Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution (Cambridge, MA/Washington, D.C., 2017), p. 127, cat. 85 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
