Dish With Sun Lion, Royal Persia, XIXc

A superb hollow dish from the 19th century from Persia today Iran, with abundant decoration.
We find there in the broadside the emblem of Persia the "solar lion" armed with his saber as well as the great bustards birds very present in the great Iranian plains;
In the center, a sheep surmounted by a bird carrying a branch in its beak. Around a frieze of many animals.
Outside, a large frieze in calligraphy completes this richly decorated dish. Superb patina for the whole object.
## The sun lion is the emblem of royal Persia and the central motif of the flag of Iran from 1576 to 1579.
The motif dates back to pre-Islamic times. The religion of Iran at that time (Zoroastrianism) considered fire as a sacred element and the sun was also revered.
The pattern represents the sun in the astrological sign of Leo.
A saber was added to the dexter front paw of the lion in the 16th century, it is here a symbol, recalling either the justice or the warlike power of the Shahanshah.
The motif appears in Islamic art towards the end of the 12th century, it is attested on the coins minted by Kay KHUSHRAW II, the Seljuk sultan of Roum in Anatolia.
A miniature from 1423 shows it used as the flag emblem of Timurid (thus Mongol) horsemen approaching the walls of Nishapur in Iranian Khorassan. A heraldic sign among many others at first, the solar lion had become the symbol of Persia at the time of the reign of Abbas the Great.
Height: 8 cm, diameter: 45 cm
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