Mirror Case, ca. 1875

  • Islamic, Iranian

Papier-mache board, colors, gilding, and lacquer

  • Overall: 7 7/8 × 5 1/4 × 3/8 inches (20 × 13.3 × 1 cm)

Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews

1991.5

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.

(Said Motamed, Frankfurt, Germany)

1991-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Henshaw, Julia P., ed. A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 129 (ill.).

Islamic, Iranian, Mirror Case, ca. 1875, papier-mache board, colors, gilding, and lacquer. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Mrs. Charles C. Andrews, 1991.5.