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Pen Box with Riverscape, Female Portraits, and Lions in Medallions

Pen Box with Riverscape, Female Portraits, and Lions in Medallions

Cover and sliding compartment with rounded ends. The top is decorated in horizontal format with seven cartouches. The central cartouche contains a moon-lit landscape; this is flanked by four circular medallions with female portraits, and at the far left and right oblong cartouches with lions. The interstitial space is filled with a gold arabesque on a black background. The sides are similarly composed with an elongated cartouche in the center with a rustic genre scene. A continuous design of birds and flowers covers the ends. On the base, a gold arabesque is painted on a red background.

Opaque watercolor, gold-colored pigments, and lacquer on pasteboard

Qajar period

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