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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.380
People
Muhammad Husayn Shirazi
Title
Wafer Seal Case with Flowers, Hazelnuts, and Butterfly
Classification
Boxes
Work Type
box
Date
c. 1875-1890
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/352137

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
1.5 × 2.8 × 13.5 cm (9/16 × 1 1/8 × 5 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    یا حسین ابن علي
    O Husayn, son of Ali!

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
2014.380
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Flat case with sliding lid and rounded ends. The top is in horizontal format with three panels containing birds, flowers, and hazelnuts. On the base a central panel contains a view of a town clustered at the edge of a bay, with mountains in the distance. To the left and right are floating bouquets.

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. 146, cat. 142

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