{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O55138"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O55138/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JF5846/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JF5846/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JF5846","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5847","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5848","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5849","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5850","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5851","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5852","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5853","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JF5854","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KP5811","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KP5815","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KP5817","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2018KP5827","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O55138/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O55138","accessionNumber":"850:1, 2-1889","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.    \r\n","physicalDescription":"Oblong shaped pen box with rounded ends, made of lacquered paste-board. Around the side is a continual frieze of oval medallions, each depicting a different seated dervish or Sufi pir, with an accompanying caption in Persian. ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"pasteboard","id":"AAT162474"},{"text":"","id":""}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Lacquered and painted papier-mache","categories":[{"text":"Lacquerware","id":"THES49004"}],"styles":[{"text":"Qajar","id":"AAT21708"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MES","id":"THES48607"},"images":["2016JF5846","2016JF5847","2016JF5848","2016JF5849","2016JF5850","2016JF5851","2016JF5852","2016JF5853","2016JF5854","2018KP5811","2018KP5815","2018KP5817","2018KP5827"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"017","id":"THES367282"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"017","id":"THES367282"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Pen case","id":""}],[{"text":"lid","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Iran","id":"x30220"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Isfahan","id":"x28926"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1850-1880","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1880-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"23.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bought Richard Collection, £1.13s.4d.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Penbox, painted and lacquered pasteboard, Iran (probably Isfahan), Qajar period, 1850-1880","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":[{"text":"The Sufis (sometimes called dervishes) depicted on this fine monochrome penbox belong to various different orders which coexisted in the Muslim world.  The Qalandars, for example, wandered from town to town carrying an alms bowl (like those shown in this case) and an axe for protection.\r\n\r\nPENBOX - SUFI SAGES\r\nIran, 19th century\r\nPapier mache\r\n850-1889","date":{"text":"5 June 2000","earliest":"2000-06-05","latest":"2000-06-05"}}],"partNumbers":["850:1-1889","850:2-1889"],"accessionNumberNum":"850","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1889,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Pen case","lid"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2001-02-15","availableToBook":true}}