Pen case, wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl in black lacquer, painted inside in red, black, and gold
The pen case is one of the finest examples of inlaying from Gujarat. This local technique, in which mother-of-pearl was inlaid in black lacquer, was used on both large pieces (for example the chest 22/1976) and smaller ones. The very fine yet regular patterns of the latter are especially amazing.
This pen case is embellished with minutely inlaid mother-of-pearl split-leaf arabesques. The lid moreover holds the first part of the Muslim profession of faith written in elegant Thuluth: “In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.”
Details in the ornamentation and the painted decoration on the inside indicate that the pen case was made for export to the Ottoman Empire.
This pen case is embellished with minutely inlaid mother-of-pearl split-leaf arabesques. The lid moreover holds the first part of the Muslim profession of faith written in elegant Thuluth: “In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate.”
Details in the ornamentation and the painted decoration on the inside indicate that the pen case was made for export to the Ottoman Empire.