Harvard Art Museums > 2014.316: Pen Box with Elderly Saint and Riverine Landscapes 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 Elderly Saint and Riverine Landscapes (Najaf `Ali) , 2014.316,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351833. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.316 People Najaf `Ali Title Pen Box with Elderly Saint and Riverine Landscapes Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date 1852-1853 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351833 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.3 × 3.8 × 22.2 cm (1 5/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 3/4 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: يا شاه نجف ۱۲۶۹ O Lord of Najaf! 1852-53 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 2014.316 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 vertical format with three cartouches. In the center, an elderly figure, perhaps a saint, with his eyes closed, clasps his hands; in the background is a white church with two domes. In the lower cartouche, a donkey bearing packs passes between buildings in the middle ground, and a waterwheel holds the foreground. The upper cartouche features water fowl and a white building. The sides are similarly composed, with a vignette of dervishes or holy men in the center and rural scenes at the left and right. The base and sliding compartment are decorated with gold arabesque on a red background. 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. 129, cat. 89 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
