2014.384: Mirror Case with Flowers and Birds
MirrorsThis 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
-
inscription: رقم کمترين میرزا جانی ابن احمد
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
- Permissions
-
The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.
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