AN OFFICIAL INVESTITURE DOCUMENT
Early Pahlavi Iran, dated 1929

Persian nasta’liq manuscript on paper, the five lines of text proclaiming the royal statement "We, Pahlavi, confirmed by God, beseeched by the Ministry of War, invest Sultan Muhammad Sadegh Mirza Dowlatshahi with the rank of Yavar (Major)", dated 1 Farvardin 1308 Shamsi Hijri (21 March 1929), at the top of the farman (official document) the embossed emblem of Reza Shah Pahlavi with two rampant lions with the rising sun on their backs, holding the title Pahlavi Shahanshah Iran within a pearled oval, beneath the Pahlavi crown, in a double mount, glazed and framed, the document 43cm x 28cm, 56.7cm x 40cm including the frame.

Provenance: Bonhams Knightsbridge, 18 June 2013, lot 246.