Oliver White
Head of Department
Lot 80R
A Qajar lacquer penbox (Qalamdan) depicting scenes from Aqa'id al-nisa (Beliefs of Women) Persia, 19th Century
11 June 2020, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,167.50 inc. premium
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A Qajar lacquer penbox (Qalamdan) depicting scenes from Aqa'id al-nisa (Beliefs of Women)
Persia, 19th Century
Persia, 19th Century
with rounded ends and sliding tray, decorated in polychrome and gilt with scenes of birth and motherhood, the borders with undulating foliate vines, the base with an interlace of vines and bunches of grapes, with knitted case
21.7 cm. long
21.7 cm. long
Footnotes
The side of the penbox depicts female attendants caring for a mother shortly after the birth of her child, who lies in a basin at her feet. The mother wears a transparent chemise, her hair unbound, and an attendant to the upper left carries a tray bearing a sword and a book which will serve as talismans against maternal death. To the right, servants wrap the afterbirth in a cloth before it is buried to protect the child from evil. Many of the practices depicted are reflected in Aqa'id al-nisa, a late Safavid treatise on female domestic superstitions. For a lacquer mirror case depicting a similar scene, and a further discussion on the topic see M. Farhad, M. McWilliams and S. Rettig, A Collector's Passion, Ezzat-Malek Soudavar and Persian Lacquer, Washington 2017, pp. 60-61.