Harvard Art Museums > 2014.364: Pen Box with Erotic Scenes in Medallions on Floral Ground 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 Erotic Scenes in Medallions on Floral Ground (Muhammad `Ali) , 2014.364,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 30, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351844. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.364 People Muhammad `Ali, Persian Title Pen Box with Erotic Scenes in Medallions on Floral Ground Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date c. 1830-1850 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351844 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layers on pasteboard Dimensions 5.1 × 5 × 28.3 cm (2 × 1 15/16 × 11 1/8 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: رقم زد کمینه محمد علی في ۱۱۰۶ [ambiguous date] Painted by the lowly Muhammad `Ali in 1708-09 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 2014.364 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 lid with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format, with five small lobed medallions containing erotic imagery superimposed on floating blossoms, the whole set against a gold background. The sides are nearly identical, each bearing a symmetrical pattern of clumps of red and purple flowers springing from the ground line, against a light brown background. The inner lid, also in horizontal format, features a leafy plant, rooted at the center with branches extending to the ends of the lid. On the base, floral and foliate motifs are painted on a red background. The signature and date (painted on the inner lid), places the work in the mid-eighteenth century, but the figural imagery appears to be Qajar, to judge from the few elements of clothing. 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. 123, cat. 71 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
