Harvard Art Museums > 2014.306: Pen Box with Flowers, Birds, and Hazelnuts 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 Flowers, Birds, and Hazelnuts (`Ali Ashraf) , 2014.306,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 23, 2025, https://hvrd.art/o/351835. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.306 People `Ali Ashraf Title Pen Box with Flowers, Birds, and Hazelnuts Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date mid-18th century Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Period Zand period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351835 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.9 × 4 × 22.8 cm (1 9/16 × 1 9/16 × 9 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: این تحفه قلمدان که دهد شوق و شعف بخشد بگلستانِ جنان زیب و شرف شد رشکِ نگارخانهٔ چین نقشش از دستِ غلامِ شاه علی اشرف This rare pen box that gives strong desire and happiness Would bestow the rose garden of paradise with beauty and honor. Its painting became the envy of the picture gallery of China From the hand of the shah’s servant `Ali Ashraf. 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 2014.306 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. The top and sides are decorated with flowers, birds, and hazel nuts outlined in gold against a tan background. The outer surfaces of the compartment are decorated with cartouches containing floral motifs and Persian poetry. 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. 117, cat. 52 Exhibition History 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/17/2017 - 01/07/2018 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
