19th Jun, 2025 12:00
Arts of India and the Islamic Lands
110
A LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE (QALAMDAN) WITH SCENES FROM NIZAMI’S KHOSROW O SHIRIN
Possibly Bukhara or Samarkand, Central Asia, or Kashmir, India, second half 19th century
A LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE (QALAMDAN) WITH SCENES FROM NIZAMI’S KHOSROW O SHIRIN
Possibly Bukhara or Samarkand, Central Asia, or Kashmir, India, second half 19th century
With rounded ends and sliding tray, polychrome-painted, heightened with gold, and lacquered, the top decorated with a recurrent topos of Persian classical literature, the Armenian princess Shirin being spied by the Persian prince Khosrow whilst bathing, the sides painted with further references to Nizami Ganjavi's love poem Khosrow o Shirin, specifically Shirin visiting the rock-carver Farhad at Mount Bisotun and Shirin waiting for the milk to flow down from the Mount, the figures inhabiting a rural background with simple brick buildings and plenty of trees and shrubs, the underside and interior painted in relief in polychromes with a fine rosette scrollwork with spiraling sprays and sinuous foliage on green ground.
26cm long
Estimated at £400 - £600
A LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE (QALAMDAN) WITH SCENES FROM NIZAMI’S KHOSROW O SHIRIN
Possibly Bukhara or Samarkand, Central Asia, or Kashmir, India, second half 19th century
With rounded ends and sliding tray, polychrome-painted, heightened with gold, and lacquered, the top decorated with a recurrent topos of Persian classical literature, the Armenian princess Shirin being spied by the Persian prince Khosrow whilst bathing, the sides painted with further references to Nizami Ganjavi's love poem Khosrow o Shirin, specifically Shirin visiting the rock-carver Farhad at Mount Bisotun and Shirin waiting for the milk to flow down from the Mount, the figures inhabiting a rural background with simple brick buildings and plenty of trees and shrubs, the underside and interior painted in relief in polychromes with a fine rosette scrollwork with spiraling sprays and sinuous foliage on green ground.
26cm long
Auction: Arts of India and the Islamic Lands, 19th Jun, 2025
Our specialist auction Arts of India and the Islamic Lands is now online for you to browse, peruse and fall in love with your next antique.
Among the highlights, this sale vaunts a remarkable selection of Rajput Schools paintings and an illustrated loose folio from a Timurid Haft Paykar series, all part of a private Canadian collection; several gem-studded Indian necklaces, treasured heirlooms of a local family; a notable group of Islamic manuscripts, including a geomantic tome attributed to the Nubian alchemist Dhul-Nun al-Misri; and several lots of Persian Qajar lacquer belonging to the heir of a British diplomatic family in office under Sir Denis Wright in Tehran between 1971 - 1973.
Our selected lots preview starts next week, on Tuesday 3rd June, and the full view is going to take place from Friday 13th June until the sale day.
Mark your calendars and come to see us!
For any enquiries, please contact us at:
Viewing
Viewing:
13th June - 10:00 - 17:00
14th June - 11:00 - 16:00
15th June - 11:00 - 16:00
16th June - 10:00 - 17:00
17th June - 10:00 - 17:00
18th June - 10:00 - 17:00
