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Lot Essay
The square kufic inscription in the centre contains the Shi'a shahada. The other cursive inscriptions around that contain the call to God to bless the twelve Imams.
It is unusual to find the knotted kufic seen in the centre of this example on an 'alam. The way the invocations of the Imams are worked into the design of a palmette also strongly indicates the influence of a calligrapher in the design.
The almond-shaped body, the square kufic inscription, projecting dragons'-heads and twelve pierced roundels as well as the Shi'a inscription are comparable with a group of four steel standards at the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul (in particular acc.nos.651 and 655), which are from the early Safavid period. However, the elaborate border patterns and delicacy of the inscriptions suggest a 17th century date. There is a comparable example at the shrine in Ardabil, Iran, from the early 17th century, as well as one in the Tanavoli collection (no.61) from the late 17th to early 18th century (James Allan and Brian Gilmour Persian Steel: The Tanavoli Collection, Oxford, 2000, pp.267-271).
It is unusual to find the knotted kufic seen in the centre of this example on an 'alam. The way the invocations of the Imams are worked into the design of a palmette also strongly indicates the influence of a calligrapher in the design.
The almond-shaped body, the square kufic inscription, projecting dragons'-heads and twelve pierced roundels as well as the Shi'a inscription are comparable with a group of four steel standards at the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul (in particular acc.nos.651 and 655), which are from the early Safavid period. However, the elaborate border patterns and delicacy of the inscriptions suggest a 17th century date. There is a comparable example at the shrine in Ardabil, Iran, from the early 17th century, as well as one in the Tanavoli collection (no.61) from the late 17th to early 18th century (James Allan and Brian Gilmour Persian Steel: The Tanavoli Collection, Oxford, 2000, pp.267-271).