Harvard Art Museums > 2014.312: Pen Box with Muhammad Shah Qajar and Nur `Ali Shah 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 Muhammad Shah Qajar and Nur `Ali Shah (Abu’l-Hasan Isfahani) , 2014.312,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 23, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351848. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.312 People Abu’l-Hasan Isfahani Title Pen Box with Muhammad Shah Qajar and Nur `Ali Shah Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date 1842-1843 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351848 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 5.2 × 6.3 × 27.7 cm (2 1/16 × 2 1/2 × 10 7/8 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: Lid (exterior) رقم کمترين ابو الـحسن ۱۲۵۸ Painted by the lowliest Abu’l-Hasan, 1842-43 Lid (interior) نور علي شاه Nur `Ali Shah 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 2014.312 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 Rectangular box with lift-off lid secured by a chain. The exterior of the lid is decorated in vertical format with a portrait of Muhammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834 48) seated on a chair like throne. The inside of the lid bears an image of a young dervish standing in an interior, with a staff and flowers. An inscription identifies the figure as Nur `Ali Shah (d. 1797), leader of the Ni’mat’ullahi Sufi order. The outside of the box is decorated with hunting scenes. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted 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), pp. 64-65, ill.; p. 124, cat. 73 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
