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Lot Essay
The inscriptions are a combination of koranic verses, Shi'a sayings and the names of the scribe and the maker, given as: "The scribe of the letters 'Ali Naqqash" and "The work of Ustad 'Ali".
The cut steel banner or 'alam is Safavid Persian in origin, being publicly displayed at the beginning of the month of Muharram when the martyrdom of Husayn is being commemorated. Most examples are flat, but a four-sided example, like that here offered, was on the London art market a few years ago. With the link between the strongly Shi'a dynasties of the Deccan, particularly that of Golconda/Hyderabad, it is not surprising to see the same forms appearing there, in miniatures from the late 16th century, and in originals from the seventeenth. The rows of dragons' heads completely flanking the present piece are most unusual, although two upper flaring dragons' heads are normal. One other 'alam which shares this feature is the iron "miracle-working" example, the sartuq-e mobarak, in the Dar al-Shifa (Royal hospital), Hyderabad (Zebrowski, Mark: Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, pls.534-536).
The cut steel banner or 'alam is Safavid Persian in origin, being publicly displayed at the beginning of the month of Muharram when the martyrdom of Husayn is being commemorated. Most examples are flat, but a four-sided example, like that here offered, was on the London art market a few years ago. With the link between the strongly Shi'a dynasties of the Deccan, particularly that of Golconda/Hyderabad, it is not surprising to see the same forms appearing there, in miniatures from the late 16th century, and in originals from the seventeenth. The rows of dragons' heads completely flanking the present piece are most unusual, although two upper flaring dragons' heads are normal. One other 'alam which shares this feature is the iron "miracle-working" example, the sartuq-e mobarak, in the Dar al-Shifa (Royal hospital), Hyderabad (Zebrowski, Mark: Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, pls.534-536).