Moroccan Scribe’s Box
Artist Unknown
Description
Subject Matter:
Assuming artworks are made in the place where they are collected can lead to errors, as it fails to acknowledge they are commodities that are traded, travel, and move from owner to owner. This pen box, for example, was previously identified as a “Moroccan scribe’s box,” based on where it was collected. But UMMA’s collaborative research with scholars at the University of Michigan has revealed that it was not created in Morocco. The designs that decorate the box indicate it was probably made in Syria or Egypt in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. UMMA’s research also found information about the object’s artist and patron hidden in plain sight. Inside the pen box, an Arabic inscription states, “Made by the master Sahlul,” whom it identifies as the head of an artists’ guild. Below is the name of the patron, Hatice Hanim, possibly a late Ottoman princess. The number 1817, written in Arabic numerals, may refer to the year the object was made, or it may have been added at a later date. It could also be a treasury number.
Physical Description:
This metal scribe box has multiple containers inside to hold ink and other needs of the scribe. It is ornately decorated on the exterior and interior.
Usage Rights:
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