A LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE (QALAMDAN) WITH BIRDS AND HAZELNUTS
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Qajar Iran, ca. 1850 - 1860

With rounded ends and sliding tray, lacquered, polychrome-painted and heightened in gold, the top and sides painted with a traditional horizontal composition featuring plump birds perched on leafy branches filled with hazelnuts, the sides of the sliding tray and the underside of the case with dense scrollwork of lotus flowers, roses and foliage in gold against a red ground, 22.5cm long.

*The handwritten note on the interior of the qalamdan to be considered a note-to-self of the owner, who deemed the pen case could be the work of the lacquer master Ya Shah Najaf (Najaf 'Ali), and a date (possibly of purchase), 7th December 1996.