TWO LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASES (QALAMDAN) WITH THE GOL-O-BOLBOL MOTIF
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Each with rounded ends and sliding trays, lacquered, polychrome-painted and heightened in gold, each top and sides painted with a traditional horizontal composition featuring the beloved topos of Persian literature, the rose and the nightingale (gol-o-bolbol), plump birds perched next to lush roses, large buds, ripe berries and leafy branches, one qalamdan signed in gold on the left side of the top reading The Work of Mohammad Taqi Al-Imami 1286 AH (1869), and the latter with a later signature in red in the centre of the top The Work of Javad 1310 AH (1892), the sides of the sliding trays and the underside of the cases with stylised scrollwork of roses, lotus flowers, saz leaves, vine trellis and grapes in gold against red and brown grounds, the longest 23cm long.