Writing Desk (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
In the 16th and 17th centuries, small pieces of furniture and decorative objects richly ornamented with mother-of-pearl were produced in the Gujarati port cities of Ahmedabad, Cambay, and Surat. These objects were manufactured both for the Indian market and for export to West Asia and Europe. This writing chest or qalamdan, a spectacular example of the craft, was made to store pens, knives, inks, and other scribal implements. The mother-of-pearl patterns covering the chest resemble motifs found on certain types of Mughal carpets and on an early 17th-century wooden tomb canopy in Delhi. Verses written in Ottoman Turkish within border cartouches on the lid refer to the virtues and beauty of the desk, often alluding to mystical Sufi ideas. Though it was probably made for the Turkish market, this chest is typical of the sumptuous mother-of-pearl objects owned by the Mughals.
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Dye, Joseph M. The Arts of India: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. London: Philipp Wilson, 2001. (cat. no. 211, pp. 439-440, 515-16, 529)
“Asian Furniture,” The Encyclopedia Americana (Hawleyville, CT: Grolier Inc., 1995) pp. 192-193, ill.
“Asian Furniture,” The Encyclopedia Americana (Hawleyville, CT: Grolier Inc., 1995) pp. 192-193, ill.
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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