.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
From the 1670s pen boxes bearing figural paintings in a new Europeanizing style began to be produced for the Safavid court. It has been suggested that the evidence of the surviving material indicates that there was a definite change in taste that emanated from the court of Shah Sulayman (r.1666-94) and that it was associated with the Shah’s patronage of Muhammad Zaman and his atelier (Nasser D. Khalili, B.W. Robinson, and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands, Part 1, London, 1996, p.54). This pen box fits in closely with the group – and indeed it shares a number of the features of Muhammad Zaman’s work. The signature on the top of this pen box gives the appearance of having been tampered with – it is not completely legible now though the words Muhammad Yusuf are clear. The rest looks like it may read ‘ibn Muhammad Zaman’, but Muhammad Zaman is known only to have a son by the name of Muhammad ‘Ali.
Certainly this penbox seems to follow in the artistic tradition established by Muhammad Zaman and continued by his son. A similar pen box to ours - also decorated with a lady standing upon a bridge in a landscape – but painted by Muhammad ‘Ali is in the Khalili Collection (Khalili et al, op.cit., pp.66-67, no.34).
Our box also shares stylistic features with a famous pen box in the Khalili Collection signed by ‘Hajji Muhammad’ and dated AH 1124/1712-13 AD (Khalili et al, op.cit., pp.58-59, no.26). Like ours, the signature of the Khalili box seems to have been defaced, but Hajji Muhammad has been read as a reference to Hajji Muhammad bin Yusuf Qumi, whose artistic oeuvre is between AH 1083/1673 and AH1124/1712 AD (Chahryar Adle, Écriture de l’Union Reflets du temps des troubles, Paris, 1980). The quality of the painting is superlative, with couples in amorous embrace decorating the lid. In the depiction of the ladies, notably the two painted in Indian dress, the Khalili pen box bears close resemblance to ours. The facial features with the dark-outlined elongated eyes, and certain elements of the costume down to the loose dots with which textiles are decorated bear close resemblance. Another pen box by Hajji Muhammad, in the Iran Bastan Museum (dated AH 1122/1710 AD), is decorated with floral sprays on a dark ground very similar to those found on the side of our box (Adle, op.cit., no.7, p.50). With the names Muhammad and Yusuf appearing in the signature, it is tempting to suggest that our pen box is the work of the same artist. Even if it is not, it is certainly in the accomplished hand of a close contemporary working in the same style.
Certainly this penbox seems to follow in the artistic tradition established by Muhammad Zaman and continued by his son. A similar pen box to ours - also decorated with a lady standing upon a bridge in a landscape – but painted by Muhammad ‘Ali is in the Khalili Collection (Khalili et al, op.cit., pp.66-67, no.34).
Our box also shares stylistic features with a famous pen box in the Khalili Collection signed by ‘Hajji Muhammad’ and dated AH 1124/1712-13 AD (Khalili et al, op.cit., pp.58-59, no.26). Like ours, the signature of the Khalili box seems to have been defaced, but Hajji Muhammad has been read as a reference to Hajji Muhammad bin Yusuf Qumi, whose artistic oeuvre is between AH 1083/1673 and AH1124/1712 AD (Chahryar Adle, Écriture de l’Union Reflets du temps des troubles, Paris, 1980). The quality of the painting is superlative, with couples in amorous embrace decorating the lid. In the depiction of the ladies, notably the two painted in Indian dress, the Khalili pen box bears close resemblance to ours. The facial features with the dark-outlined elongated eyes, and certain elements of the costume down to the loose dots with which textiles are decorated bear close resemblance. Another pen box by Hajji Muhammad, in the Iran Bastan Museum (dated AH 1122/1710 AD), is decorated with floral sprays on a dark ground very similar to those found on the side of our box (Adle, op.cit., no.7, p.50). With the names Muhammad and Yusuf appearing in the signature, it is tempting to suggest that our pen box is the work of the same artist. Even if it is not, it is certainly in the accomplished hand of a close contemporary working in the same style.