Harvard Art Museums > 2014.342: Pen Box with Persian Woman of Letters 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 Persian Woman of Letters (Mubarak Mirza ibn Mahmud) , 2014.342,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 18, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351860. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.342 People Mubarak Mirza ibn Mahmud Title Pen Box with Persian Woman of Letters Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date c. 1850-1885 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Period Qajar period Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351860 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.4 × 3.7 × 21.7 cm (1 5/16 × 1 7/16 × 8 9/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: Top: رقم مبرک ميرزا Painted by Mubarak Mirza Back: ای ایاز از عشق تو گشتم چو مو ماندم از قصه تو قصهٔ من بگو O Ayaz! I’ve become like a strand of hair from your love, I could not go along with your story, speak of my story. [Couplet from the fifth chapter of the Mathnavi by Jalal al- Din Rumi] Inside cover (maker’s seal): صح تراج The standard of Taraj 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 2014.342 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 vertical format with three cartouches containing images of an elegantly dressed Persian woman embracing her beloved (upper), writing a letter (central), and caressing a small child (lower). The front and back show the same woman reclining against cushions and reading a book. The base and compartment are decorated with a gold arabesque 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. 29-31, fig. 3; p. 151, cat. 157 Exhibition History 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/17/2017 - 01/07/2018 Related Articles Life at Home through Artists’ (and Curators’) Eyes May 6, 2020 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
