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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.317
People
Najaf `Ali
Title
Pen Box with Elderly Saints
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
1856-1857
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran, Isfahan
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351843

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3.9 × 4.2 × 23.6 cm (1 9/16 × 1 5/8 × 9 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    يا شاه نجف۱۲۷۳

    O Lord of Najaf! 1856-57

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
2014.317
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format with three cartouches. In the center, an elderly man, perhaps a saint, clasps his hands, with a white church at his back. Above, a bearded figure raises his hand in supplication, with a domed church in the background. Below, a white-bearded man holds a book. The sides are similarly composed, with figural scenes divided into three sections. On the front side, the central section features a carriage scene; on the back side, the central section features a seascape with sailing ships. Rural and hunting scenes fill the left and right edges. The ends carry medallions with male and female portrait busts.

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. 129, cat. 91

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