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Oblong octagonal mirror case with painting of birds and flowers

This octagonal case consists of a mirror surrounded by a frame with a vine-like pattern. A lid sits within the frame. The lid is painted with a scene of two birds and several types of flowers. One bird is gray, while the other is white with a red-and-black head. The flowers are mostly in shades of green and pink. Foliage winds between the flowers. The background behind the scene is mottled brown. The back of the case is painted with an outdoor scene of a nude, reclining light-skinned woman with two cherubs.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.384
People
Mirza Jani ibn Ahmad
Title
Mirror Case with Flowers and Birds
Classification
Mirrors
Work Type
mirror case
Date
c. 1825-1850
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351907

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-color pigments, platy hematite particles, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
frame: 19.4 × 16.3 × 1.4 cm (7 5/8 × 6 7/16 × 9/16 in.)
lid: 17.4 × 14.3 × 0.5 cm (6 7/8 × 5 5/8 × 3/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: رقم کمترين میرزا جانی ابن احمد
    Painted by the most humble Mirza Jani ibn Ahmad

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
2014.384
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Octagonal mirror case with fitted lid. The outer surfaces of the mirror case are decorated with birds perching on sprays of mixed flowers, against a sparkling background. The inner surface of the lid features a reclining female nude and two winged cupids in a woodland setting, a composition based ultimately on a painting by British artist Richard Westall (1765-1836).

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. 40, 42-43, figs. 8-9; p. 109, cat. 34
  • Katherine Eremin and Claire Grech, Materials and Techniques of Persian Laquerwork, 2017, Figure 8, Page 43; Figure 9, Page 43
  • David Roxburgh and Mary McWilliams, ed., Technologies of the Image: Art in 19th-Century Iran, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2017), p. 33, fig. 13; pp. 152-153, cat. 59

Exhibition History

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