2014.328: Pen Box with Shaykh San`an and the Christian Maiden

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2014.328

People

Ja`far ibn Najaf `Ali

Title

Pen Box with Shaykh San`an and the Christian Maiden

Classification

Artists' Tools

Work Type

pen box

Date

c. 1850-1875

Places

Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan

Period

Qajar period

Culture

Persian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/351863

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, copper alloy particles, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard

Dimensions

3.7 × 3.8 × 23.1 cm (1 7/16 × 1 1/2 × 9 1/8 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription:
  Center:
  
  جعفر ابن نجفعلی
  
  Ja`far bin Najaf `Ali
  
  Right:
  
  سالها دل طلب جام جم از ما می کرد…
  
  “Years the heart was seeking Jamshid’s cup from us...” [fragment of a ghazal by Hafiz]
  
  دوست ...
  
  "Lover…”
  
  Left:
  
  هرکسی را سر کاری و
  
  “Everyone is preoccupied with something…” [fragment of a ghazal by Sa`di]

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

2014.328

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 and divided into three sections separated by elaborate gold scrollwork and arabesque designs. The central section illustrates a tale recounted in Farid al-Din `Attar’s Manṭiq al-ṭayr (Conference of the Birds), in which Shaykh San`an kneels before the Christian Maiden, who offers him wine. The sections to the left and right feature scenes of a teacher with his students.
The sides of the cover are similarly divided by gold scrollwork and arabesque designs that enclose illustrations from Persian literature. The scenes on the front and back reference the famous tarji’-band by Hatif of Isfahan. The vignettes on the ends represent Shirin visiting Farhad at Mount Bisutun, and Khusraw spying Shirin at her bath. The base of the cover and sides of the drawer are decorated with flowers and female portrait busts of women.

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. 28-29, fig. 2; pp. 39-41, fig. 1; p. 138, cat. 116
• David Roxburgh, ed., An Album of Artists' Drawings from Qajar Iran, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2017), p. 99
• Katherine Eremin and Claire Grech, Materials and Techniques of Persian Laquerwork, 2017, Figure 1, Page 40-41
• David Roxburgh and Mary McWilliams, ed., Technologies of the Image: Art in 19th-Century Iran, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2017), pp. 37-38, fig. 24; pp. 154-155, cat. 65
• Salima Hellal, ed., Les Arts de L'Islam: Au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, exh. cat., Éditions Snoeck (Lyon, 2023), p. 504, fig. 120

Exhibition History

• Technologies of the Image: Art in 19th-Century Iran, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/26/2017 - 01/07/2018

Verification Level