Harvard Art Museums > 2014.343: Pen Box with Flowers and Birds in Grisaille Technique Artists' Tools 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 and Birds in Grisaille Technique (Fathallah Shirazi) , 2014.343,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 26, 2025, https://hvrd.art/o/351846. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.343 People Fathallah Shirazi Title Pen Box with Flowers and Birds in Grisaille Technique Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date 1880-1881 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Shiraz Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351846 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.7 × 3.8 × 22.6 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/2 × 8 7/8 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: بجهة تقدیم حضور جناب جلالتمآب مؤتمنالسلطان عضدالدوله العلیه العالیه دام اقباله سمت ختم پذیرفت رسم کمترین بنده فتح الله شیرازی ۱۲۹۸ Finished for the dedication to his Highness Mu’tamin al-Sultan `Azd al-Dawlah, may his fortune be perpetuated. Drawn by the most humble servant Fathallah Shirazi, 1873-74 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 2014.343 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. In black on an off-white ground, the top and sides are painted with birds and flying insects amid plants that sprout from a ground line. The plants include rose, prunus, and hyacinth. 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. 46-47, fig. 17; p. 149, cat. 150 Katherine Eremin and Claire Grech, Materials and Techniques of Persian Laquerwork, 2017, Figure 17, Page 46-47 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
