A POLYCHROME-PAINTED, LACQUERED AND TOOLED LEATHER PORTABLE ESCRITOIRE MADE FOR THE IRANIAN MARKET
Possibly Ottoman Turkey or Provinces, ca. 1880 - 1930

Designed in the shape of a rectangular briefcase, the tooled leather polychrome-painted, gilt, and lacquered, the exterior profusely decorated with the typical Persian topos of the gol-o-bolbol (rose and nightingale) beloved by the Qajar dynasty together with cusped cartouches, stylised arabesques, vegetal meanders and lotus flower motifs in gold, the front panel decorated with a floral triumph of irises, daisies, daffodils, and rosettes, opening in full to reveal a document holder and the bipartite interior of the escritoire with a narrow and long rectangular compartment to store writing tools, and a larger rectangular compartment with double flaps to store further documents, books, and papers, each flap provided with a smaller pouch to store further tools and notes, every compartment and pouch lined in coloured marbled paper often referred to as ebru in Ottoman and Turkish sources, with a brass lock and mount, and a later-added heart-shaped steel padlock, 32.5cm x 40.5cm x 10.5cm.