Inscribed Pen Box

Pen Box

The written word and tools associated with it occupy a special place in Muslim culture. Pen boxes and inkwells were highly esteemed by the elite across the Islamic world, especially during medieval times, when luxurious examples inlaid with precious metals were created. Such implements reflected the literary culture and values of the upper classes from Cairo to Herat as well as their respect for the transmission of knowledge. Particularly relevant in political and administrative contexts, these objects were considered status symbols and commonly presented as gifts.

Larger, oblong pen boxes with angular or round ends, such as this one, provided space to hold both inkwell and pens, with the inkwell portion typically on the right. They were commonly associated with royalty and kingship from Egypt to Iran during the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.[1] The inlaid decoration that embellishes these implements is sometimes accompanied by inscriptions or iconography relating to writing, in effect transforming the pieces into "speaking objects." Here, a Persian poem by Hafiz compares the object to a beloved woman and extends good wishes to her.[2]

This pen box is of particular historical importance.[3] Initially made in the early to late fourteenth century, either in northern Iraq or western Iran, it was significantly altered shortly before the mid-fifteenth century probably in Herat, the eastern center of Islamic metalworking.[4] The decoration of the interior of the box, worked in a refined inlay technique that continues the style of the al-Mawsili school, provides a glimpse into the original ornament—a distinct, dense small-scale pattern of interlaced star medallions with flying birds and arabesque patterns, along with inscribed cartouches and frit-motif roundels (fig. 64 in this catalog). After the exterior surface was burnished to remove this decoration, the pen box was refurbished in a different inlaying technique. A series of interlocking medallions and cartouches and incised lotus blossoms, were set in low relief with applied linear inlays, all against a cross-hatched background.

Deniz Beyazit in [Higgins Harvey 2021]

Footnotes:

1. See Deniz Beyazit in Canby, Sheila R., Deniz Beyazit, Martina Rugiadi, and A.C.S. Peacock. Court and Cosmos: The Great Age of the Seljuqs. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2016, pp. 273–74, no. 174a, b. On the discussion of the individual spaces, their functions, and their terms, see also Kalus, Ludvik and Christiane Naffah. "Deux écritoires mameloukes des collections nationales francaises." Revue des études islamiques 51 (1983), pp. 89–146.

2. For a reading and translation of the inscriptions, see Komaroff, Linda. "Pen-Case and Candlestick: Two Sources for the Development of Persian Inlaid metalwork." Metropolitan Museum Journal 23 (1988), pp. 93–94. On inkwells and pen boxes, see Melikian-Chirvani, A.S., "State Inkwells in Islamic Iran." Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 44,1986, p. 83; Taragan, Hana. "The ‘Speaking’ Inkwell from Khurasan: Object as ‘World’ in Iranian Medieval Metalwork." Muqarnas 22 (2005), pp. 29–44; Beyazit in Canby et al. 2016 (reference in note 1), pp. 273–74.

3. See Komaroff 1988, pp. 93–94 (reference in note 2).

4. Scholars disagree on the dating and attribution of the first phase of the pen box. For example, Linda Komaroff places it in the late fourteenth century, Iran or Syria; ibid., pp. 91–93. More recently, Rachel Ward attributes it to Ilkhanid Mosul, first half of the fourteenth century; Ward, Rachel. "Il-Khanid Mosul: More Craft than Court." In Court and Craft: A Masterpiece from Northern Iraq, edited by Rachel Ward, pp. 68-75. Exh. cat. London: Courtauld Gallery, in association with Paul Holberton Publishing, 2014.. According to Komaroff, the later phase is possibly the first, or earliest surviving, example of the Timurid inlaying metalworking technique, another instance of which is cat. 114 (MMA 91.1.607) in this volume.

Inscription: - On lid: To its owner happiness, security, longevity as long as a pigeon coos, eternally, forever until the Day of Judgement. And may glory, prosperity, and achievement continue for him as long as the sun and the moon rise... ;
-hasp: May the outcome be good.
(Translation by Yassir al-Tabba, 1978)

Top to bottom:
In thuluth script:
لصاحبه السعادة و السلامة وطول العمر ما ناحت حمامة
ابداً سرمداً الی یوم القیامة
دوامة له العز و الاقبال و الظفـ[ـر] ما طلعت الشمس و القمر
ظلاً له و بدوام و ادمع؟

Two Persian poems, the first by Hafiz in thuluth script:
از خون دل نوشتم نزدیک یار نامه اني رأیت من هجرک القیامة
سر بر ندارم ز خطت چون قلم گر سرم بر داري از بن چون دوات

On the lock in thuluth script in Persian:
بخیر گشایت مبارک باد

Inside the box there are some illegible inscriptions such as الطباطبائي .
(A.Ghouchani, 2011)

The inscription also read by Yassir al-Tabba as:
لصاحبه السعادة و السلامة و طول العمر ما ناحت حمامة/ ادا سرمدا الی یو(م) القیامه/ و داما لک (له) العز و الاقبال و الظفر/ ماطلعت الشمس و القمر/ ....
عاقبت خیر باد

Edward C. Moore (American), New York (until d. 1891; bequeathed to MMA)

Komaroff, Linda. "Pen-Case and Candlestick: Two Sources for the Development of Persian Inlaid Metalwork." Metropolitan Museum Journal 23 (1988). pp. 91, 93, 94, ill. fig. 3.

Beyazit, Deniz. Collecting Inspiration : Edward C. Moore at Tiffany & Co., edited by Medill Higgins Harvey. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021. no. 113, pp. 178–79, ill. pl. 113, fig. 64 (detail).