A Structured Analysis of the Themes in the Lacquered Scale Box Paintings, Depicting the Throne of Solomon (PBUH), Belonging to the Early Qajar Period, Preserved in the British Museum.

Lacquered boxes, during the Qajar period, known as Qapan boxes due to their practical use, were functional items painted and adorned with various themes. Custom functional boxes were of higher quality and importance, made to order for the royal court. One of these exquisitely painted boxes is preserved in the British Museum. The main subject of the painting spans the length of the rectangle, depicting the Throne of Solomon (PBUH), while the secondary subject is the width of the box, illustrating a royal hunting scene. This box is one of the rare, and intact examples belonging to the early Qajar period, and its identification can serve as a complete and rare specimen to understand this art in the Qajar period. The question of the present research is “What themes have been painted in different sections inside and outside this box, and how are the themes of the images related to each other”? The aim of the present study is to examine the structure of the painted scale box with the theme of the Thrown of Solomon (PBUH), which includes the structure and themes worked on both inside and outside and familiarizes us with this type of box and its practical aspect.

This research is qualitative and descriptive-analytical, utilizing library (documentary) methods for data collection. The statistical population of the present study is a mirrored box numbered 192705251 in the British Museum, belonging to the Qajar period. Data collection was conducted using library methods and tools such as note-taking and downloading internet versions of images. The purposeful sampling method was chosen by examining the lacquered painted scale box depicting the Thrown of Solomon (PBUH).

The findings of the present study indicate that this painted box demonstrates the integration of artistic achievements and life, introducing religious themes as the main subjects depicted on the box. The paintings on this box share stylistic similarities with other aspects of the box, but differ in terms of content, having been selected and executed with consideration of the box's functional aspect. The semantic relationship of the themes inside and outside the box is different from each other, but they share the same artistic style. In this box, three themes are observed: On the lid of the box, the religious theme of the Thrown of Solomon, on the sides of the box, the cultural theme of hunting during the Qajar period, and inside the box, the mystical theme of Flower and Bird and the decorative elements of Iranian art.

The themes used in various parts of the box have been influenced by the art of Qajar court painting. The systematic design and the use of images for the box, the use of hunting motifs for the box's horizontal and vertical borders, and the use of traditional Iranian motifs for the box's interior divisions are among these intentionally selected themes, clearly reflecting the art of the Qajar period.