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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.332
People
Muhammad Husayn Shirazi
Title
Pen Box with Flowers, Birds, and Butterflies
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
c. 1850-1875
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351818

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3.8 × 3.8 × 21.7 cm (1 1/2 × 1 1/2 × 8 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    میرزا اشرف افتخارِ زَمَن

    آسمانِ جلال و جاه و کرم

    باد رخشنده کوکبِ بختش

    تا بُود عرش و فرش و لوح و قلم



    بنده حسین ابن علی



    Mirza Ashraf, the pride of the ages,

    The sky of glory, grandeur, and generosity.

    May the star of his fortune be shining,

    As long as there exists heaven and earth, and the tablet and pen (of divine decrees).

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
2014.332
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with birds and flowers on a black ground. On the sides, gold scrollwork frames panels with small-scale European figures on horseback and seated in carriages in riverine landscapes. These are flanked by medallions with three-quarter length portraits of European men and women.

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. 141, cat. 126

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