Before and during the Qajar period of Iran, craftsmen often had a range of skills they specialised in, from embroidery to miniature painting to tile design. In particular, training in drawing and painting was considered highly accomplished, from portraiture to lacquer.
Within the field of lacquer painting, the Najaf name is still known as exceptional: a prominent family of artists with the supposed head, Najaf ʿAli, having created many lacquer works or at least, having many attributed to him as his students were said to have also used his signature in their works. Perhaps this was an indication of respect, whereby they accredit their skill to their creative teacher, or this was a method of gaining clout, using a highly respected name in their own work to increase their visibility.
This pen box is one of a pair from an auction, signed by Najaf ʿAli but again, this could be a use of the name without being the man himself. It is an intricately detailed scene, as many expected from Qajar and wider Persian paintings where detail was prioritised over texture, that demonstrates battle and a battleground. In the far background of the top of the box is a fortress where a winding path of men on horseback ride from and opposite it, on the right side of the lied, a series of tents where an army of men, also on horseback, are rushing in to attack the opposing side. These sides could be perceived through the fighters' steeds, where the fortress men ride brown horses and the opposing side have white and grey horses, as well as their wardrobe where the former wear more warm, peach-toned tunics and the latter wear more blue-toned greys. There are other smaller scenes happening within this wide scope, some soldiers either attacking each other in hand-to-hand or the fortress men taking prisoners. This scene is highly interesting as one for a pen box, especially when it is dated to just the year before the Anglo-Persian War.
These Qajar Lacquer penboxes are beautiful and ornate, but they show a hidden beauty in history. How art like this can reveal the grotesque allure in love, passion and war can be depicted raw and plainly, while using such simple, detailed means of communication. The scene presented here is that of war, with what looks like hundreds of men fighting. As mentioned, the creation of this was right before the Anglo-Persian War. The nature of battles, it often precedes war. A conjecture can then be made, which states that this must be one of the battles before the war. The barren use of colour and heavy use of hues of yellow, peach, and blue show the origin of the war being somewhere in a deserted region, such as the Middle East. And the use of rounded hills of what can be predicted as dunes or rocky, dry hills acts as a battleground and conveys the message of a never-ending cycle of war, pain, and bloodshed, where even victory comes with a tumultuous cost.
