FIVE LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASES (QALAMDAN) WITH QAJAR MAIDENS AND GROUP GATHERINGS
Iran, late 19th - 20th century

Each with rounded ends and sliding trays, polychrome-painted, heightened in gold, and lacquered, the top and sides of each qalamdan presenting a variant of recurrent, traditional Qajar figural motifs, including two pen cases with vertical-format compostions, one with an oval portrait of a Qajar maiden surrounded by Kashmiri-style golden vegetal trellis and polychrome arabesque patterns, and another with a family triad picture, inspired by Christian iconography, accompanied by a number of Persian village scenes with farmers, workers, and countrymen; and three pen cases with horizontal-format compositions, mostly showing group gatherings, two inspired by Western models with Mother and Child scenes, interspersed amidts animals, idyllic landscapes, vegetation and stylised floral motifs, and a third one with scenes of typical pastimes like playing polo, dancing and playing music en plein air, and reading poetry, the inner tray of one of these qalamdans containing a dawat (inkwell) and a modern pair of calligrapher's scissors, most undersides either plain or featuring gilt vegetal trellis against a glossy black background, the longest 23.5cm and the shortest 19cm.