Perspectives on Persian Art Carried between Cathay and Khita'i: a Case Study of the Chinoiserie Aesthetic in Iran and Central A

A Chinese inscription on an ornately decorated travelling box for valuables at the Brooklyn Museum claims it was produced in China’s Zhejiang province. Not bearing a date, the object has been attributed on stylistic grounds to Yuan China between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries, though some features suggest an association with Chinese artistic techniques practiced after that period. To complicate matters, the object’s composition implies a connection to Persian-style book arts and their incorporation of Chinese-inspired elements. Most such elements were introduced during the Mongol period. They evolved into a standardized Persian-style visual repertoire during the 15th century. In this illustrated lecture, the Brooklyn coffer will be examined and compared to other objects produced in medieval China, Iran and Central Asia. Dr. Akbarnia will examine the possibility that the coffer might have been produced either later or over a longer period of time than previously thought.