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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.303
People
Haji Muhammad
Title
Pen Box with Portrait Medallions on Floral Ground
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
stencil
Date
1690-1691
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Safavid period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351829

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper alloy particles, and lacquer over silver layer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3.7 × 4.2 × 23.9 cm (1 7/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: هو العلی الاعاي

    راقمه حاجی محمد في ۱۱۰۲

    He! The most High.

    It was painted by Haji Muhammad in 1692-93.

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
2014.303
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 vertical format with three portrait medallions and two anchor pendants, surrounded by flowers painted on a red background. The inscription is written in the anchor pendants, and it reads, "He the Most High. It was painted by Haji Muhammad in 1102 H. (1690-1691)." The portraits are all of women, and the central figure wears a fanciful European gown. The sides are decorated with floral scrolls, which are continuous around the ends. The walls of the compartment bear gold landscape motifs on a red background. The base is plain red.

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), pp. 29-31, fig. 4; p. 115, cat. 46
  • David Roxburgh and Mary McWilliams, ed., Technologies of the Image: Art in 19th-Century Iran, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2017), pp. 35-36, fig. 18; pp. 148-149, cat. 50

Exhibition History

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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