Pen Box with Figures in Indoor and Outdoor Settings, and Medallions

This pen box is richly decorated on the top, front, and back with figural designs. The largest cartouches that hold the center of each side contain vignettes of Iranian men. The top central cartouche bears the artist’s signature Mubarraz al-Shu'ara, date 1321 H. (1903-1904), and a composition of men and boys gathered in a brick courtyard to hear the words of a figure whose green turban suggests he is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. This scene is flanked by cartouches of beautiful young women in Iranian dress reclining in terraces, attended by servants. On the front and back sides, the central cartouche of a gathering of men is flanked by oval medallions of a young man and women in Iranian dress. The ends bear continuous compositions of human and animal figures traversing the landscape. All figural vignettes are framed with gold rococo scrollwork.