Name of Object:

Pen box

Location:

London, England, United Kingdom

Holding Museum:

The British Museum

About The British Museum, London

Date of Object:

Hegira mid-8th century/ AD mid-14th century

Museum Inventory Number:

1881.8-2.20

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Brass inlaid with silver and gold.

Dimensions:

Length 30.7 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Mamluk

Provenance:

Egypt or Syria.

Description:

A rectangular brass pen box with hinged lid and interior compartments, decorated both inside and out with silver and gold inlay. Around the outside a series of medallions alternate with inscriptions; both are surrounded by arabesque scrolls. A radial inscription inside the lid includes the titles of an anonymous amir. On either side of this central epigraphic roundel are two more medallions filled with lotus flowers. Lotus flowers and peonies, derived from Chinese art in the form of chinoiserie, appear in Mamluk decorative arts during the AH 8th / AD 14th century. Chinese motifs were imported to Egypt and Syria by the Mongols in Iran; the influence is also evident in Iranian art of the same period. Like much of the Mamluk metalwork of this period, figurative representation is absent; the decoration comprising calligraphy, together with floral and geometric designs. Pens would have been kept in the larger compartment while the smaller containers at one end were for ink, sand (for blotting ink) and threads (for cleaning the reed-pens).

A brass pen box with compartments to store pens, ink, sand and threads. Typical of Mamluk metalwork from the AH 8th / AD 14th century, this object is devoid of figures and is instead covered in calligraphy with floral and geometric decoration.

How date and origin were established:

By the mid-8th/14th century most Mamluk metalwork was decorated with epigraphy, rather than with figures; this pen box features calligraphic panels with floral and geometric designs. The presence of lotus flowers and peonies also points to the mid-8th / 14th century when these decorative elements became more commonplace in Mamluk art. For example, peonies can also be found on a series of mosque lamps dating to this period.

How Object was obtained:

Bequeathed to the British Museum by William Burges in 1881.

How provenance was established:

Stylistically this pen box relates to other inlaid metalwork objects produced in the Mamluk domains of Egypt of Syria. Moreover, the name of an anonymous Mamluk amir is inscribed on this object.

Selected bibliography:

Ward, R., Islamic Metalwork, London, 1993, pp.111–3, fig. 85.

Citation of this web page:

Emily Shovelton "Pen box" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;uk;Mus01;29;en

Prepared by: Emily ShoveltonEmily Shovelton

Emily Shovelton is a historian of Islamic art. She studied history of art at Edinburgh University before completing an MA in Islamic and Indian art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Since graduating she has worked on a number of projects at the British Museum. Other recent work includes editing and writing for a digital database of architectural photographs at the British Library. She is currently working on a Ph.D. on “Sultanate Painting in 15th-century India and its relationship to Persian, Mamluk and Indian Painting”, to be completed at SOAS in 2006. A paper on Sultanate painting given at the Conference of European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, held in the British Museum in July 2005, is due to be published next year.
Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: UK1 35