Pen box (qalamdan)

Object Details

• Artist

  Painting (top surface) by Rahim Dekkani

• School/Tradition

  Deccani school

• Provenance

  At least 1957-1959

  Heeramaneck Galleries (1928-1964/5), New York, NY, method of acquisition unknown [1]

  From 1959

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Heeramaneck Galleries [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See Freer Gallery of Art Vault Card, V142.57a,b, copy in object file. The object was transferred from the Heeramaneck Galleries to the Freer Gallery of Art for acquisition consideration on July 31, 1957.

  Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY owned and operated by Nasli M. (1902-1971) and Alice N. Heeramaneck (née Arvine) (1910-1993). The Heeramanecks were dealers and collectors of Pre-Columbian and Asian art. Nasli Heeramaneck began his career as a dealer in Paris during the 1920s and relocated to New York, NY in 1927. In 1939, Nasli married Alice Arvine, an American portrait painter from New Haven, CT. Nasli founded Heeramaneck Galleries in New York, NY by 1928. He began to retire in 1964 and liquidated some of the gallery’s stock at auction at Parke-Barnet, New York in 1964 and 1965. Many objects from the Heeramaneck collection were either purchased or donated to American museums. Items from their collection may be found in The British Museum; the Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Museum of New Delhi; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and Yale University.

  [2] See object file for copy of the Heeramaneck Galleries invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated February 16, 1959, and marked approved on February 6, 1958. Object is described as, “Indian lacquer pen box.”

  Research updated August 24, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  South and South East Asian Art (May 9, 1993 to February 7, 2000)

  From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy (July 28, 1986 to February 6, 1987)

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

  Bicentennial Exhibition: Near Eastern and Indian Art (December 15, 1975 to November 10, 1976)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Heeramaneck Galleries (active 1928-1964)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1640s

• Name

  Heeramaneck Galleries

• Place

  India

• Topic

  Lovers, South Asian and Himalayan Art, Prince, Art, Lacquer, Writing, Flowers

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Containers