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Banner

1800-1840 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Triangular banner, woven silk and metal thread. The warp of the main piece runs along the lower edge of the triangle; the blue border has been stitched to the red centre.

The central triangular panel has a red ground, with a gold lion outlined in red in the centre; the lion's mouth is open and the tongue extended. The upper half of the Sun lies behind the lion's back, in silver with gold pointed rays outlined in red. Two red locks of hair fall from a point above the forehead of the Sun; they fall over the lion's back and curl outwards. The nose and eyebrows of the Sun's face are formed from the same red line, and there is a gold and red disc in the middle of the brow. The pattern on the red ground, of silver floral decoration and inscriptions within shaped cartouches, is rather clumsily interrupted by the lion and Sun and the edges are abrupt, although some floral stems have been placed around the lion's feet. The ground appears to be silver divided into a lattice. The inscriptions, forming a quatrain, alternate in vertical bands; each row of cartouches contains a repeating single verse, the rows read 'down' to repeat the quatrain.

The broad border consists of three bands:
[1] silver ground with a fine blue meander, linking a diagonal leaf and a four-petalled flower either side of a wider silver band containing an inscription.
[2] wide band, silver ground with lobed blue cartouches with three different inscriptions alternating with a four-lobed compartment with three different inscriptions. There is a partial rosette in blue between these compartments.
[3] as [1].


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Brocaded silk, metal thread, weaving, sewing
Brief description
Triangular banner, brocaded silk and metal thread, Iran, Qajar period, 1800–1840.
Physical description
Triangular banner, woven silk and metal thread. The warp of the main piece runs along the lower edge of the triangle; the blue border has been stitched to the red centre.

The central triangular panel has a red ground, with a gold lion outlined in red in the centre; the lion's mouth is open and the tongue extended. The upper half of the Sun lies behind the lion's back, in silver with gold pointed rays outlined in red. Two red locks of hair fall from a point above the forehead of the Sun; they fall over the lion's back and curl outwards. The nose and eyebrows of the Sun's face are formed from the same red line, and there is a gold and red disc in the middle of the brow. The pattern on the red ground, of silver floral decoration and inscriptions within shaped cartouches, is rather clumsily interrupted by the lion and Sun and the edges are abrupt, although some floral stems have been placed around the lion's feet. The ground appears to be silver divided into a lattice. The inscriptions, forming a quatrain, alternate in vertical bands; each row of cartouches contains a repeating single verse, the rows read 'down' to repeat the quatrain.

The broad border consists of three bands:
[1] silver ground with a fine blue meander, linking a diagonal leaf and a four-petalled flower either side of a wider silver band containing an inscription.
[2] wide band, silver ground with lobed blue cartouches with three different inscriptions alternating with a four-lobed compartment with three different inscriptions. There is a partial rosette in blue between these compartments.
[3] as [1].
Dimensions
  • Maximum length: 2760mm
  • Maximum width: 203cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • Qur'anic verse (Large cartouches in middle border)
    Translation
    Help from God and speedy victory
    Transliteration
    Nasr min Allah wa fath qarib (Qur'an 61:13)
  • Inna fatahna laka fathan mubinan (Qur'an 48:01) (Large cartouches in middle border)
    Translation
    Verily, we have granted you a signal victory
  • Huwa Allah ta'ala subhanahu (Small cartouches in middle border)
    Translation
    He is God Most High, may He be praised!
  • Huwa'l-a'la al-wali (Small cartouches in middle border)
    Translation
    He is the Most High, the Friend
  • Huwa'l-fattah al-`alim (Small cartouches in middle border)
    Translation
    He is the Opener [of gates/sustenance], the All-Knowing
  • Qur'an 68:51-52 (Repeating text in outer and inner borders)
    Translation
    And the Unbelievers would almost trip thee up with their eyes when they hear the Message; and they say: "Surely he is possessed!" But it is nothing less than a Message to all the worlds.
  • Ya qahir al-`aduw Ya vali al-vali Ya mazhar al-`aja'ib Ya murtaza Ali (Cartouches in main field (each row of cartouches contains a repeating single verse, the rows read "down" to repeat the quatrain))
    Translation
    O conqueror of enemies! O prince of saints! O manifesting-place of miracles! O Ali the Chosen!
Object history
Purchased for £40 from Robert Murdoch Smith [formerly Richard Collection]
Bibliographic references
  • Baker, Patricia, L. Islamic Textiles, London: British Museum Press, 1995. 192p., ill. ISBN 0-7141-2522-9. Fig p. 137
  • The Arts of Islam, Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Hayward Gallery, 8 April - 4 July, 1976, The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1976. 396p., ill. ISBN 0 7287 0081 6 paper bound, 07287 0080 8 cloth bound. Catalogue entry 91, p.113
  • Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural. Ed. Francesca Leoni. Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Ashmolean Museum, 20 October 2016 - 15 January 2017. pp.57, 76
  • Curtis, John; Sarikhani Sandmann, Ina; Stanley, Tim, Epic Iran: 5000 Years of Culture, London: V&A Publishing, 2021. 336p., ill. ISBN 978-1851779291. Page 191, cat. 145.
Collection
Accession number
2318-1876

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Record createdNovember 4, 2003
Record URL
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