nasr min Allah wa fath qari, 'Victory from God and victory is near'

Military, royal and religious metal standards (‘alam) can be traced back to early times in Iran. They occur for example, among Luristan bronzes and Achaemenid depictions. By the second half of the 14th century a central ornament above a pair of inward facing dragon’s heads was evidently an important, possibly royal, type of military emblem, as seen on some contemporaneous miniatures of the time. In the mid-15th century, however, the design destined to dominate standard styles for the following centuries was introduced – a pear shaped centre, an ornamental point, and a double dragon, with their heads turned outwards rather than inwards, as seen on our example (James Allan and Brian Gilmour, Persian Steel. The Tanavoli Collection, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art XV, Oxford, 200, pp. 254-55). The pictorial evidence available from the 14th to 17th century demonstrate the use of standards in battle and as a indicators of the presence of the sovereign. By the early 17th century, however, standards had assumed a religious role as well. Olearius, amongst other European travellers to Persian in the 17th century, describes a number of examples where ‘alams were used in non-imperial context, supporting their religious importance in the 17th century (Allan and Gilmour, op.cit., p. 259). Our almond shaped ‘alam would have been used in such religious ceremonies in the later Safavid period, and falls into group B of Allan’s different groups of ‘alams (Allan and Gilmour, op.cit., p.268).
Melikian-Chirvani discusses the royal symbolism of dragon heads (A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, ‘Le Shah-Name, la gnose soufie et le pouvoir mongol’, Journal Asiatique, vol.272, nos.1-2, 1984, p.323) whilst contemporary craftsman believe that the dragon’s heads protect the Qur’anic verses through their fiery breath, as seen in our example (Allan and Gilmour, op.cit., p.263). Standard making in contemporary Iran is still an active guild since they are used to commemorate the shi’a religious mourning rituals around the battle of Karbala.
An impressive pierced steel Safavid ‘alam with similar dragon heads sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2017, lot 93. Another earlier dated example sold at Sotheby’s London, 24 October 2018, lot 139.