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Location: Iran
Materials: gold, translucent and painted enamel
Dimensions: 2.5 x 6.3 x 4.4 cm
Accession Number: ISL 476
Other Notes:
The function of this small box is unknown, but its small dimensions and shape seem to indicate that it was used for medicines, or perhaps to hold a miniature Qur’an.
The iris was a popular subject in early 19th century Iran, being rendered in a number of media, including jewellery, manuscript illumination and lacquer. A fine example of the last, the doublures of a papier-mâché manuscript binding painted by Muhammad Hadi, circa 1819, is in the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art (see MSS 773 in the Islamic Art section).
Bibliography:
Haydn Williams, Enamels of the World: 1700-2000 The Khalili Collections, London 2009, cat. 138, p. 210.
