


Iran
Silver with black inlay
H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm), W. 9 in. (22.9 cm)
Gift of Dr. Marilyn Jenkins, 1984 (1984.504.2)
Under the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals, steel or silver standards were used in military, royal, and religious ceremonies. The talismanic power of this standard (calam) is understood through the choice of the inscriptions. On one side, in the centermost circle, the Shici prayer venerates the Prophet Muhammad's family through his cousin and son-in-law cAli, his wife Fatima, and their sons Hasan and Husain, supported by the protective Throne verse (2:255). The other side honors the twelve imams, with the name of the twelfth imam enclosed in the central circle. As for the fingers, they are incomplete and display a combination of Qur'anic verses and popular Shici invocations. The power of the names of these religious figures, the Qur'anic verses, and the Shici prayers endow this standard with its amuletic properties.







