POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Shia banner پرچم عاشورایی

Object No. A8513

This Shia banner was handcrafted in 19th-century Persia (Iran), probably under the patronage of a Qajar religious family, by one of the master printers (chit-saz, qalamkar-saz) from the cities of Isfahan, Kashan or Yazd, known for the production of this series of handprinted calico since the 17th century. During the Qajar era (1789 -1925) and especially during the reign of King Nasser al-Din (1848-1896), the public rituals and performances related to the martyrdom of the third Shiite Imam (saint), Hoseyn ibn-Ali (626 AD - 680 AD), the Prince of Martyrs, became popular in Iranian society. As a result, a range of handmade ceremonial material religion and ritualistic visual pieties was created, and consequently similar high-quality crafts were adopted for the Persian market. This vertical Shia banner was produced as a votive object (nazri). Its main body is made of a handmade Persian calico (karbas), designed and printed by hand by the usage of a handmade block woodcut cliché (ghaleb) in black, blue and red. On the top of this banner are two lions are guarding a tree which symbolically represent the Prophet Mohammad’s Household (Ahl-e beyt). This tree is depicted with several fruit-shaped patterns, each of which represents one of the Prophet’s close family members (chahardah ma’soum, the fourteen sacred saints). The printed Persian calligraphy embedded in the body of this banner is from the famous poem [elegy in twelve strophes (davqzdah-band)] recited by Mohtasham Kashani (1528-1588) in memory of the martyrdom of Imam Hoseyn in the desert of Karbala in Iraq. Similar to other Persian Shia material culture in the Powerhouse collection, this banner was used by Shiite devotees during the month of Moharram as a wall hanging throughout their annual traditional ceremonies, rituals and performances. The holes and damaged parts of this banner are testimonials to its years of usage during such religious ceremonies. Dr Pedram Khosronejad, Curator of Persian Arts, 2021