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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.353
People
Mustafa al-Husayni al-Imami
Title
Pen Box with Flowers and Birds in Medallions
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
c. 1872-1873
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351850

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper alloy particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard
Dimensions
4.1 × 4.3 × 24.6 cm (1 5/8 × 1 11/16 × 9 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:



    Top:



    مصظفی الحسيني الامامي سنه ۱۲۸۹



    Mustafa al-Husayni al-Imami, the year 1872-73







    Inside cover (maker’s seal):



    عبده الرجي محمد جواد [illegible date]



    His [God’s] hopeful servant Muhammad Javad













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
2014.353
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. The top and sides are similarly composed with elaborate borders framing cartouches of various shapes and sizes that contain vignettes of birds and flowers. 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), p. 145, cat. 138

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