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Lot Essay
The inscription on the top of the 'Alam reads: ya fatah, (O the Opener). In the central panel are the words 'God, Muhammad, 'Ali'.
Exactly the same arrangement of the calligraphy giving the names of God, Muhammad and 'Ali, together with the same basic arrangement of the background scrolls, in each case also surmounted by the same "ya fatah" cartouche, can be found in the central panels of three very similar 'alams. One of these is in the Aga Khan Museum Collection (Spirit & Life, exhibition catalogue, London, 2007, no.154b, p.181), a second, possibly the same example, was in these Rooms 26 April 1994, lot 389, while the third is in the Parviz Tanavoli Collection (James Allan and Brian Gilmour, Persian Steel, Oxford, 2000, no.89, pp.264-5). These must all have been produced in the same workshop and at the same time, possibly as a series to be displayed or paraded together.
Exactly the same arrangement of the calligraphy giving the names of God, Muhammad and 'Ali, together with the same basic arrangement of the background scrolls, in each case also surmounted by the same "ya fatah" cartouche, can be found in the central panels of three very similar 'alams. One of these is in the Aga Khan Museum Collection (Spirit & Life, exhibition catalogue, London, 2007, no.154b, p.181), a second, possibly the same example, was in these Rooms 26 April 1994, lot 389, while the third is in the Parviz Tanavoli Collection (James Allan and Brian Gilmour, Persian Steel, Oxford, 2000, no.89, pp.264-5). These must all have been produced in the same workshop and at the same time, possibly as a series to be displayed or paraded together.