Pen box (qalamdan), Iran, Isfahan, 1850-75
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1850-75
Pen box (qalamdan) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number 1066:1-1875), made in Iran, Isfahan, dated 1850-75. The museum's brief description reads: Pen box (qalamdan), Iran, Qajar period, 1850-75.
Museum description: Oblong shaped pen box with rounded edges made of papier mache (pasteboard), painted and varnished on all sides with a finely painted decoration of alternating cusped medallions, each painted inside with polychrome and gold floral scrolls and arabesques. The cover of the box has a single lobed medallion painted inside with a courtly or elite woman dressed in European costume, flanked by a female attendant and an elderly bearded man clasping her bare breasts.
The museum records it as Papier-mache; painted; varnished, measuring Length 22.5 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The primary function of a pen box (qalamdan) was as a writing implement - made of papier mache, wood or other materials, including precious metals – intended to hold a number of tools associated with the art and act of writing, including reed pens, an inkwell, liqah (a cotton wool substance used to absorb excess ink), a penknife, a qat’zan (a flat resting board made of horn), a whetstone, a small spoon, and a pair of scissors. These accessories were considered essential elements for a scribe. The box that kept these elements was deemed, by association, as important as the person who handled its contents, with the quality of the box’s decoration directly reflecting the status of the scribe or patron. Pen boxes were carried by penmen of all ranks, often tucked into the shawls tied around their waists, symbolising a badge of their trade. So esteemed was the pen box that even Shahs commissioned them; these rare examples are confirmed by their inscriptions. The earliest specimens of this type date from the reign of Shah Sulayman Safavi (1664-95), but later Qajar examples commissioned by members of high bureaucracy also exist throughout the nineteenth century.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Papier-mache; painted; varnished
- Dimensions
- Length 22.5 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Papier-mache; painted; varnished
- Place recorded
- Iran, Isfahan
Identification
- Museum object name
- Pen box (qalamdan)
- Museum object number
- 1066:1-1875
- Museum system number
- O305320
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.