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Long oval-shaped box with portrait of woman, flowers, and landscapes

This long, narrow box has rounded edges. It is painted a brilliant red color. Gold painted lines divide the top of the box into three sections, the central one showing a portrait of a light skinned woman in a blue dress. Flower bouquets bordered with gold filigree designs fill the other sections. The sides of the box each have miniature paintings of a landscape with a lake and trees inside a gold border. One end of the box has a cutaway portion, creating a cap.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.367
Title
Pen Box with European Woman in Medallion and Floral Sprays
Classification
Artists' Tools
Work Type
pen box
Date
1880-1900
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Russia
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351875

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil paint, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard
Dimensions
3.5 × 3.7 × 22.7 cm (1 3/8 × 1 7/16 × 8 15/16 in.)

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
2014.367
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in vertical format. A central medallion contains a three-quarter length portrait of a European woman in a blue dress. Above and below, bouquets float on a bright red ground. The sides each bear an elongated cartouche with a wooded landscape with a lake. Scrollwork in bright gold ornaments all sides of the pen box. The pen box is likely a product of the Lukutin manufactory in Danilkovo.

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. 33-35, fig. 12; p. 159, cat. 183

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