A COPPER OPENWORK 'ALAM (PROCESSIONAL STANDARD)
Possibly Hyderabad, Deccan, Central India, 18th century

Of typical drop-like shape, resting on a gently splayed conical shaft, the openwork centre reading the aya 13 of Sura as-Saff (61:13), the central drop-shaped medallion encased within a register of seven cusped openwork cartouches bearing the names of Allah and the Panj Tan, Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatima and their sons, Hussayn and Hasan, terminating at the top with two applied cusped cartouches engraved with the image of a deer in the wilderness, the symbol of the Eighth Shi'a Imam, Imam 'Ali al-Reza, suggesting the specific use of the 'alam during Shi'a processions, 52.3cm high.