Box
1850-89 (made)
| Place of origin |
The fine openwork patterning can be found on a variety of Iranian wood objects, including spoons, the handles of dervish bowls, boxes, and Quran stands. Many of the Iranian wooden objects during the nineteenth century were manufactured in the large town of Abadeh, which was known for its fine wood production.
This box would have been made from a variety of carving tools, the most unusual one being a file or saw, known in Persian as a marpa. The lattice work pattern would have been achieved by first drilling the pattern with a fiddle drill, before removing the remaining wood with a coarser marpa, and finally piercing the remaining wood with a very fine marpa. The process was time consuming and required both a steady and delicate hand.
This box would have been made from a variety of carving tools, the most unusual one being a file or saw, known in Persian as a marpa. The lattice work pattern would have been achieved by first drilling the pattern with a fiddle drill, before removing the remaining wood with a coarser marpa, and finally piercing the remaining wood with a very fine marpa. The process was time consuming and required both a steady and delicate hand.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Carved pearwood |
| Brief description | Carved wooden box with lid, Iran (Abadeh), Qajar period, 1850-89 |
| Physical description | Rectangular shaped wooden box, carved with along three sides with panels of dense floral sprays, flanked by a fine row of stylised flowers carved in deep relief. On the other side, a horizontal scene depicts men and women on horseback approaching a modestly clad woman seated in a tent in a hilly landscape. The lid is carved with a horizontal composition of a lion attacking a man who lays sprawled against the ground; the panel is surrounded by similarly carved dense floral sprays. The box stands elevated upon four carved feet. |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | The fine openwork patterning can be found on a variety of Iranian wood objects, including spoons, the handles of dervish bowls, boxes, and Quran stands. Many of the Iranian wooden objects during the nineteenth century were manufactured in the large town of Abadeh, which was known for its fine wood production. This box would have been made from a variety of carving tools, the most unusual one being a file or saw, known in Persian as a marpa. The lattice work pattern would have been achieved by first drilling the pattern with a fiddle drill, before removing the remaining wood with a coarser marpa, and finally piercing the remaining wood with a very fine marpa. The process was time consuming and required both a steady and delicate hand. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 861:1-1889 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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