TWO LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASES (QALAMDAN) WITH PORTRAITS OF FOREIGN MAIDENS
Qajar Iran, 19th century

Each with rounded ends and sliding tray, polychrome-painted, heightened in gold, and lacquered, the decoration on the top of both qalamdans arranged in vertical order and featuring oval medallions with bust portraits of maidens, one qalamdan with Western-looking, fair-skinned ladies dressed in European fashion, the central medallion inscribed at the top Raqm-e Kazem Ibn Naftali in black, and the latter with an Indian maiden holding a rosette-shaped fan, interspersed amidst colourful floral bouquets on a black ground, the sides of one qalamdan with more portraits of Qajar youths in golden frames, whilst the latter showcasing large oval medallions of landscape views in rural settings, the underside and sides of the inner sliding tray of each case plain, one in black and the latter in bright red with vegetal scrollwork around the outer edges, the longest 24cm.