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Long oval-shaped box with scenes of women and landscapes

This long, narrow box has rounded edges. On the top side of the box are three oval-shaped images, each surrounded by a gold painted “frame.” The large oval in the center is a full-length portrait of a light-skinned woman in a pink dress. The smaller images show the same woman from the bust up, and the top portrait is nude. The box’s sides each have three oval-shaped paintings of landscapes with lions or cows. The space around these medallions is painted with intricate gold floral patterns. One end of the box has a cutaway portion, creating a cap.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.362
People
Muhammad Baqir Samirumi
Title
Pen Box with European Women in Medallions
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
1918-1919
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351825

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil paint, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3.6 × 3.3 × 19.8 cm (1 7/16 × 1 5/16 × 7 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: 303 Samīrumī 1337
    303 [abjad for Baqir] Samirumi, 1918-19

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
2014.362
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with three cartouches of European women. In the center, a full-length woman stands in a pink floor-length dress; above and below are bust-length portraits. The sides are composed in a similar manner with an oblong cartouche in the center that features animals in a landscape, with small riverine landscapes to the left and right. On the base an arabesque is painted in gold on a black background. The artist Muhammad Baqir Samirumi sometimes added the number 303 to his signature. It has been suggested that this stands for the name “Baqir,” the letters of which have this numerical value. The signature "303 Samirumi" appears in the lower medallion cartouche, along with the date 1337 H. (1918-1919).

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. 159, cat. 181

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