Pen Box with European Woman and Eagles in Medallions 1878 - 1879

Curator: This is a lacquered pen box attributed to Abbas Shirazi. Notice the central panel depicting a European woman flanked by eagles. Editor: The composition is quite striking. The use of ovals creates a sense of containment, almost like viewing scenes through a looking glass. It feels very self-aware, and posed. Curator: Indeed. The eagles, symbols of power and empire, coupled with the woman—perhaps representing idealized beauty—speak to cultural exchange and appropriation. Note, too, the contrast in the palette; the gold filigree sets off the deep reds and umbers. Editor: The woman's reclining pose—is it sleep or repose? The eagles are so unlike each other in form—do these pairings invoke notions of subjugation and freedom—or the exotic and the familiar? Curator: It suggests a deliberate juxtaposition of Eastern craft and Western imagery, a common theme in Persian art of the period. The artist is playing with expectations, complicating the narrative. Editor: The very object, a pen box, also alludes to the act of recording and interpreting such encounters—a symbolic reminder that all depictions are mediated. I am glad to know I can always depend on art to surprise me.