Octagonal Mirror Case with Lid (1800s): Art, History and Details

Octagonal Mirror Case with Lid (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This mirror case focuses on a single female figure shown on both the interior and exterior of the case. Although she wears a slightly different ensemble in the painting inside the lid, the woman has the same henna tattoo on her throat. On the exterior she is mounted on horseback and wears a jacket embroidered with gems and pearls over a pair of wide-legged trousers, typical for ladies of the Qajar court. Her bold continuous eyebrow, kohl-lined eyes, and henna-dyed fingernails accord with Qajar fashion.

Object facts

• Title: Octagonal Mirror Case with Lid
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Iran, probably Isfahan, Qajar period (1779–1925)
• Type: Lacquer
• Technique: Varnished lacquer and opaque watercolor over papier-mâché
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1918.785

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. L. E. Holden

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.