A LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE (QALAMDAN) WITH ANIMAL DECORATION
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
Qajar Iran, dated 1301 AH (1883)

With rounded ends and sliding tray, lacquered, polychrome-painted and heightened in gold, the top and sides painted with horizontally-arranged cusped cartouches with herbivores like cows, bulls, hares and ibexes being attacked and hunted by predators like lions, cheetahs, and a snake, the animal scenes interspersed amidst tronies of young rulers with bull-headed clubs, Sufi sheykhs and their pupils, the top with a black ink signature Mustafa and date 1301 AH (1883) in the centre, the sides of the sliding tray and the underside of the case with a gilt fretwork band running around the edges against a black-painted ground, 21.5cm long.

The decorative cycle on this qalamdan could be read as a visual 'mirror for princes'. The animal preys and predators could stand as symbols of weak and powerful rulers, but also as tyrants and liberators. The presence of miniature portraits of Sufi sheykhs and their pupils suggests a deeper significance in the decorative arrangement, encouraging the beholder to reflect on the correct code of conduct.