Aseman Talebi
Synopsis:
The lion and sun motif, known in Persian as shir-o-khorshid, recurs across Iranian history in many different forms and materials. The Badge of the Order of the Lion-and-Sun, held at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, is one such object that displays the leonine-solar duo. The order was crafted as a diplomatic gift for foreign dignitaries and envoys and represented allegiance to the Persian state during the Qajar period (1789–1925). This talk explores the celestial, terrestrial, and political significance of the badge in the nineteenth century, both in Iran and on the international stage.
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Selected References:
Diba, Layla. “Enamel.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published December 15, 1998. 
Diba, Layla and Maryam Ekhtiar. Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch, 1785–1925. New York City: Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1998.
Piemontese, Angelo Michele. “The Statutes of the Qajar Orders of Knighthood,” East and West 28/1–4 (1978): 431–473.
Sauvage-Smith, Emilie. “Magic and Islam” and “Amulets and Related Talismanic Objects.” In Science, Tools & Magic, Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, vol. 12, edited by Francis Maddison, 59–71 and 132–142. London: The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1997.
Shahbazi, Alireza Shapur. “Flags i. Of Persia.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published December 15, 1999.
Shahidi, Yahya. “Decorations.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Published December 15, 1994.
Soucek, Priscilla. “Coinage of the Qajars: A System in Continual Transition,” Iranian Studies 34/1–4 (2001): 51–87.
Wright, Denis. “Sir John Malcolm and the Order of the Lion and the Sun,” Iran 17 (1979): 135–141.
Citation:
Aseman Talebi, “A Badge of the Persian Order of the Lion-and-Sun in the Aga Khan Museum,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 24 September 2026.
Aseman Talebi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of the History of Art at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on Iranian visual culture from the nineteenth century to the present, encompassing Qajar-era material as well as modern and contemporary art of the Iranian diaspora. She examines artistic exchanges between Qajar Iran and Europe and how these encounters shaped evolving ideals of beauty, fashion, and performance, as well as the revival and reinterpretation of ancient Iranian motifs in contemporary artistic practice. She has held curatorial positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Aga Khan Museum, and the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva. She received her B.A. in History of Art and French and Francophone Studies, as well as her B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience, from the University of Michigan in 2024. She currently serves as Khamseen’s Administrative Assistant and Pedagogy Coordinator.
