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Lot Essay
The inscriptions include the bismillah, Qur'an LXI, sura al-saff, parts of v. 13, invocations to God, the nada 'Ali quatrain and two further quatrains in Persian in praise of 'Ali.
Two closely related daggers, one dated AH 1191/1777-78 AD and the other dated 1770-71 AD are in the Freer Gallery and the British Museum respectively (both published in Esin Atil et al, Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1985, no. 35 and fig. 71, pp. 214 and 217). The Freer example is also signed and states that it was made in Shiraz, the capital at the time - establishing the city as a centre of metalworking at the period.
Two closely related daggers, one dated AH 1191/1777-78 AD and the other dated 1770-71 AD are in the Freer Gallery and the British Museum respectively (both published in Esin Atil et al, Islamic Metalwork in the Freer Gallery of Art, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1985, no. 35 and fig. 71, pp. 214 and 217). The Freer example is also signed and states that it was made in Shiraz, the capital at the time - establishing the city as a centre of metalworking at the period.