The Safavid seventeenth-century tradition for luxury objects in painted lacquer was continued under the Persian Qajars. This technique, employing an undercoat of gesso and a lacquer varnish, produced richly decorated pieces of great charm. This mirror case (the reverse is illustrated) depicts a nightingale on a rosebush amid hyacinths, primroses, and other blossoms. A Persian sensibility is here integrated with an interest in European botanical studies.
Details
Artist | Islamic, Iranian |
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Title |
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Date | ca. 1875 |
Medium | papier-mache board, colors, gilding, and lacquer |
Dimensions | Overall: 7 7/8 × 5 1/4 × 3/8 inches (20 × 13.3 × 1 cm) |
Credit Line | Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews |
Accession Number | 1991.5 |
Department | Islamic Art |
Not On View |
Provenance
(Said Motamed, Frankfurt, Germany);
1991-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
1991-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Published References
Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 129 (ill.).