*A QAJAR LACQUERED PAPIER-MÂCHÉ PEN CASE WITH CHRISTIAN SCENES (QALAMDAN)PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTIONIran, 19th centuryWith rounded ends and sliding tray, polychrome-painted and heightened with gold on a light amber ground, the top and sides painted with respectively three oval cartouches with figural decoration, the top panel with the strong Christian iconography of the Mother and Child at the top and bottom and a lady holding a basket of roses in the centre with the Virgin in the background looking at the angels in the sky, the sides with scenes from the Annunciation, village scenes and portraits of Qajar youths interspersed with rose bouquets against a dark ground, the underside and internal tray with gilt lotus and flower scrolls against a red ground, 24.5cm long.