A STAINED WOOD AND BONE MICRO-MOSAIC KHATAMKARI MIRROR CASE
Possibly Isfahan or Shiraz, Qajar Iran, late 19th - early 20th century

Of rectangular shape with a sliding top, the exterior decorated with typical Persian micro-mosaic khatam marquetry work with pieces of stained bone, copper, mother-of-pearl, and wood, the centre of the front and back panels featuring a diamond-shaped cartouche with four hexagons filled with six-pointed stars, surrounded by concentric bands repeating the same stellar geometric motif and stylised fretwork bands, the interior with a central cusped mirror plate pasted onto a khaki-coloured wove paper folio with pink roses and rosebuds, blue and purple floral and vegetal sprays on the squinches, framed within rectangular nasta'liq white-ink cartouches quoting three different Persian poems praising the beauty of the Beloved reflected in the mirror, including ghazal 605 of Sa'di's Kulliyat, verse 10 of Sa'di's Diwan, and a third similar poem, interspersed with roundels inscribed with the manufacturing date, 15.5cm x 23cm.

Inscription:
تمام شد در روز جمعه غره شهر رجب فی سنه ۱۲۷۵

Finished on Friday of the month of Rajab in the year 1275 AH (February - March 1859 AD)