A QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ GREEN PEN CASE (QALAMDAN)
Iran, 19th century

With rounded ends and sliding tray, lacquered, polychrome-painted and heightened in gold, the top with a central horizontal composition in an oval cartouche depicting the story of Sheikh San’an and the Christian maiden, the scene set in a landscape outside a mosque, flanked by bouquets of roses on a green field scattered with gold sprigs, the sides with a linear frieze of various flowers including roses, carnations and hyacinths, against a ground to match the top, the inner tray decorated with a golden tree and branches against a plain black background, the underside with a similar motif of a broad and stylised tree against a red ground, 22.5cm x 4cm x 3.5cm.