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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.331
People
`Abd al-Husayn Sani` al-Humayun
Title
Pen Box with Rulers from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
c. 1875-1900
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Qajar period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351851

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer over brass layer on pasteboard
Dimensions
4.2 × 4.2 × 25.1 cm (1 5/8 × 1 5/8 × 9 7/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription:
    Signature:

    عمل کمترین صنیع همایون

    Work of the lowliest Sani’ Humayun



    Top, from right to left:

    Feast of Kaykavus and Kaykhusraw, and grandees and companions

    بزم کیکاوس و کیخسرو و اصحاب و یاران



    Feast of Kaykhusraw

    بزم کیخسرو



    The first king who conquered kingdoms,

    Was the head of kings Gayumars (verse from the Shahnama).

    نخستین خدیوی که کشور گشود

    سر پادشاهان کیومرث بود



    Feast of Faridun and Manuchihr and advising him

    بزم فریدون و منوچهر/ و نصیحت نمودن او را



    Front, from right to left:

    Assembly of Afrasiyab the Turk and conversing

    بزم افراسیاب ترک و صحبت کردن



    When (Khusraw) Nushiravan raised the flag of justice

    In the world, after Qubad.

    چو نوشیروان رایت عدل داد

    بگیتی برافراخت بعد از قباد



    Assembly of Anushirvan the just and Buzurjmihr and grandees and companions

    بزم انوشیروان عادل و بوذرجمهر و اصحاب و یاران



    The world-conquering noble Kayqubad

    Was a king of just orders

    جهان گیر والاگهر کیقباد

    شهی بود با فرامین داد



    Jamshid conversing with courtiers and companions

    جمشید جم و گفتگو کردن با اصحاب و یاران



    Back, from right to left:

    Assembly of Bahram and conversing with companions

    بزم بهرام و یاران و صحبت با اصحاب



    The story of Kayqubad is now finished,

    I shall begin the story of Kaykavus. (verse from the Shahnama)

    به سر شد همی قصه کیقباد

    ز کاوس کی بایدم کرد یاد



    He hung the chain of justice from the door,

    The corner of his diadem surpassed the heaven. (verse from the Shahnama)

    بیاویخت زنجیر عدل از درش

    گذشت از فلک گوشه افسرش



    The glorious heaven-reared Bahman,

    Was a flower from the garden of Isfandiyar.

    فلک تربیت بهمن نامدار

    گلی بود از باغ اسفندیار



    Assembly of Chengiz Khan and conversing

    بزم چنگیز خان و گفتگو کردن



    Drawer, outer sides (counter-clockwise)

    Assembly of (the Sufi mystic) Sultan Bayazid and the stabbing of disciples

    مجلس سلطان بایزید و زخم زدن مریدان



    Assembly of Bayazid and disciples and praying

    مجلس سلطان بایزید و مریدان و مناجات کردن



    Assembly of Shams-i Tabrizi and the Mullahs and the throwing of books in the Tigris

    مجلس شمس تبریزی و ملاها و افکندن کتاب در دجله



    Assembly of Shaykh Baha’i and Mir Findiriski and the taming of the lion

    مجلس شیخ بهایی و میرفندرسکی و رام شدن شیر



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
2014.331
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 horizontal format with five cartouches containing small-figure scenes of pre-Islamic Persian rulers, and inscriptions. Included are Kay Khusraw, Kay Kavus, Manuchihr, Faridun, and Anushirvan. The sides and base are similarly decorated. On the outer walls of the sliding compartment are images drawn from Farid al-Din `Attar’s Memoirs of the Saints, including Sultan Bayazid struck by his disciples, Ustadh Salmani shaving the head of Ibrahim ibn Adham, and Mir Abu’l-Qasim taming a lion in the presence of Shaykh Bahai. Scenes painted on the inside of the drawer include Yusuf and Zuylaykha, Farhad at Mount Bisutun, and Khusraw spying Shirin at her bath. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a red background.

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. 139, cat. 120

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