PROBABLY INDIA, LATE 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY

In Islam certain Qur'anic verses, prayers and texts have historically been attributed protective properties and the ability to ward off evil. Due to these protective powers, talismanic shirts would be worn into battle or to ward off illness. The text on the present shirt includes the Nadi 'Ali quatrain, sections from the Qur'an, the al-Jawshan al-Kabir ('Great armour') prayer and a benedictory text in Arabic for the owner on the reverse. The choice of texts suggests at a Shi'i context in North India, perhaps Awadh. The green ground panels of our shirt are comparable to those on a shirt in the David Collection (24⁄2018) attributed to Northern India, second half of the 18th century and another in of similar attribution in the Khalili Collections (TXT 574). An earlier 15th century talismanic shirt sold in Sotheby's London, 23 October 2019, lot 126.