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Lacquer Pen Box with Royal Audience Scenes

ca. 1870–90
Not on view
Kiyani (royal) penboxes with cartouches framing audience scenes, celebrate Persian kingship by linking the ruling monarch with Iran’s great historic and legendary rulers. This example features the court of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–96) at the center of the lid. Other audience scenes of Persian rulers, such as Genghis Khan and Khusrau Parviz, as well as legendary kings from the Shahnama (Book of Kings), such as Afrasiyab and Manuchihr, are each identified by inscriptions. Such penboxes were not made for the market but were often commissioned and given as presentation pieces.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lacquer Pen Box with Royal Audience Scenes
  • Date: ca. 1870–90
  • Geography: Country of Origin Iran
  • Medium: Papier-mache; painted and lacquered
  • Dimensions: H. 1 9/16 in. (4 cm)
    W. 9 1/16 in. (23 cm)
    D. 1 1/4 in. (3.3 cm)
  • Classification: Lacquer
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Goldman Sachs Gift, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.258
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

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Pen Box (Qalamdan) Depicting Shah Isma'il in a Battle against the Uzbeks, Papier-maché; painted and lacquered
Pen Box (Qalamdan) Depicting Shah Isma'il in a Battle against the Uzbeks
early 19th century
Pen Box with a Europeanizing Landscape, Haji Muhammad Iranian, Papier-maché; painted and lacquered
Pen Box with a Europeanizing Landscape
Haji Muhammad
late 17th–early 18th century
Lacquer Pen Box with Royal Audience Scenes, Sani' Humayun Iranian, Papier-maché; painted, gilded, and varnished
Lacquer Pen Box with Royal Audience Scenes
Sani' Humayun
dated 1314 AH/1896–97 CE
Pen Box and Glass Case, Fathallah Shirazi Iranian, Lacquer
Pen Box and Glass Case
Fathallah Shirazi
mid-19th century
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript, Ink, gold, and watercolor on paper
Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript
dated 531 AH/1137 CE

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