Harvard Art Museums > 2014.335: Pen Box with Flowers and Birds 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 Flowers and Birds , 2014.335,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 22, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/351866. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2014.335 Title Pen Box with Flowers and Birds Classification Artists' Tools Work Type pen box Date c. 1850-1875 Places Creation Place: Middle East, Iran Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/351866 Physical Descriptions Medium Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard Dimensions 3.7 × 3.9 × 24.7 cm (1 7/16 × 1 9/16 × 9 3/4 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: Top: یا صاحب الزمان سنه ۱۱۸۹ O Lord of Time! The year 1775-76 Inside cover (maker’s seal): عبده الرجي محمد جواد 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 2014.335 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. The top and sides are similarly decorated with birds and flowers on black background. On the base a gold arabesque is painted on a red background. The inscription referencing the late 18th-century artist Aqa Muhammad Zaman provides a date earlier than the floruit for the maker of the pen box itself (third quarter 19th century), so should probably be understood as homage to the celebrated lacquer painter. 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. 30, 32, fig. 8; p. 142, cat. 130 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
