{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O305313"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O305313/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JF3984/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JF3984/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JF3984","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3985","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3986","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3987","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3988","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3989","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3990","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3991","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF3992","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O305313/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O305313","accessionNumber":"769:1-1876","objectType":"Pen box (qalamdan)","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"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.  \n\r\nPen 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.    \n\r\nThis pen box is decorated in imitation of the work of Rajab ‘Ali and Abu Talib. \r\n","physicalDescription":"Oblong shaped pen box made of lacquered papier-mache.  The top bears two large sunken panels of elegant nasta’liq calligraphy on a ground worked with an ‘engine-turned’ design in red on gold.  The letters of the inscription, which are slightly raised, are black and are over painted in gold with tiny faces, animals and other motifs.  The base is black, with polylobed medallions of the ‘engine-turned’ pattern, in red and green on gold.  ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Lacquered papier-mache","categories":[{"text":"Lacquerware","id":"THES49004"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2016JF3984","2016JF3985","2016JF3986","2016JF3987","2016JF3988","2016JF3989","2016JF3990","2016JF3991","2016JF3992"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES367283"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"018","id":"THES367283"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Pen case","id":""}],[{"text":"Pen case part","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Iran","id":"x30220"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1850-76","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1876-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"22.5 ","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"3.6 ","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Oblong shaped pen box with rounded edges and Perisan calligraphy, Iran, Qajar period, 1850-76","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Nasser Khalili, B.W. Robinson, and Tim Stanley, Lacquer of the Islamic Lands (London: The Nour Foundation, 1997)"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["769:1-1876","769:2-1876"],"accessionNumberNum":"769","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1876,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Pen case","Pen case part"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-22","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}