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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.308
People
Muhammad Sadiq, Persian
Title
Pen Box wtih Shah Isma'il at the Battle of Marv
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
1777-1778
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351839

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard; metal ink holder
Dimensions
3.7 × 4.1 × 23.5 cm (1 7/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 1/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    يا صادق الوعد ۱۱۹۱

    O You who are true to your promise! 1777-78

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
2014.308
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 a scene that probably represents the battle of Marv in 1510 between the Safavid and Uzbek armies. The sides are decorated with a continuous landscape with herdsmen tending cattle, sheep, goats, and horsemen crossing bridges over rivers. The base is decorated with a gold arabesque on a red background. The sides of the compartment feature panels filled with blossoms on a red ground.

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. 121, cat. 64

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