Pen box decorated with hunting scenes

Object Details

• Artist

  Najaf Ali

• Description

  Oblong with rounded ends, slightly convex top and sliding compartment. Decorated on top and sides with hunting scenes and on underside with flora and fauna.

  TOP: Five superimposed registers with hunting scenes in an overall landscape setting representing (from top to bottom): 1. Two riders chasing a pair of gazelles. 2. A kneeling hunter aiming a rifle at a pair of gazelles. 3. A mounted falconer. 4. A rider spearing a pair of wild boar and attended by an assistant also holding a spear. 5. A rider killing a lion with a sword and attended by an assistant with a spear.

  Right Side: A gazelle hunt in a landscape setting with buildings in the background. The hunters include 2 pairs of mounted horsemen (one rider holds a falcon and one a rifle), a dog chasing a herd of gazelle, and a gunbearer on foot.

  Left Side: At left, a bear hunt with a bear being roped by a mounted hunter and jabbed with a spear by an attendant on foot. At right, a trio of horsemen including one galloping along with a head turned and arm raised (as if to track a falcon?), another standing still to watch his companion, and a third riding off towards the right. Both left and right parts of this scene take place in a landscape flanked by groups of buildings.

  Sliding End: Three men in a landscape setting with architectural background. One figure in the center is resting on the ground, on at left is walking with a stick over his shoulder, one at right is mounted on horseback and chasing two gazelles.

  Bottom: Scene composed on the horizontal and featuring vine scroll growing from a central trunk and laden with bunches of grapes. The leaves and branches shelter various birds and animals, including: a rabbit or hare nibbling at a bunch of grapes, 3 peafowl (1 pair and 1 single), a quail(?), a small gazelle or deer. Enframed in a thin band of pink blossoms and green leaves.

• Inscriptions

  Inscribed at upper end of top: Ya Shah-i Najaf/1270.

• Provenance

  To about 1953

  Dr. Nabil, to about 1953 [1]

  From about 1953 to 1983

  Mr. and Mrs. George C. Keiser, Washington, DC, purchased from Dr. Nabil in about 1953 [2]

  From 1983

  Freer Gallery of Art, given by Mrs. George C. Keiser in 1983 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] According to the donor, her husband purchased this object in approximately 1953 from a Persian, Dr. Nabil (see Curatorial Note 3 in object record).

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] Transferred from the Freer Study Collection to the Freer Permanent Collection (see Curatorial Note 3, Elizabeth F. Duley, December 17, 1992, in the object record).

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dr. Nabil

  Mrs. George C. Keiser

• Origin

  Iran

• Credit Line

  Gift of Mrs. George C. Keiser

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1850s

• Name

  Keiser, George C., Nabil

• Topic

  Boar, Rabbits, Cats, Art, Hunting, Gazelle, Falcon, Bears, Landscapes, Animals, Papier-mâché, Dogs, Lacquer, Writing, Qajar period (1779 - 1925), Arts of the Islamic World

• Culture

  Muslims, Iranians

• Object Type

  Containers