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Lot Essay
Isma'il Zuhdi (who carried the honorific Reis al-Khattatin, ‘Head of the Calligraphers’) was a teacher of calligraphy at the Topkapi palace, and the principle teacher and older brother of the celebrated Ottoman calligrapher, Mustafa Raqim Efendi. Zuhdi was reputedly very critical of his protégé, once famously exclaiming, ‘he is no calligrapher, he cannot just take pen in hand and write, he shaves like an apprentice barber’, (Derman, 2009, p. 146). Zuhdi was highly regarded for his ability to produce highly regular and perfectly shaped letters without needing to make corrections. For an album that includes a section focusing specifically on the correct proportions of letters, see Christie’s, London, 23 April 2015, lot 192.
Zuhdi was praised for his elegant thuluth and was commissioned to produce and inscription panel for the mausoleum of Shah Sultan, the sister of Sultan Selim III (r.1789-1807). His style of thuluth and naskh are said to follow that of Hafiz ‘Uthman and the letter forms are distinguished by his full range of pen strokes. Zuhdi died on 1 Shawwal AH 1221/12 December 1806 AD and was buried in the cemetery of Edirnekapi. His headstone was said to have been written by Mustafa Raqim.
Four calligraphic panels by Isma'il Zuhdi are in the Sabanci collection in Istanbul, as well as in the Topkapi Saray Museum and in the Museum of Islamic Calligraphy - also in Istanbul (Karahan, 1985, plate 15). Two further panels are in the collection of Abdul Rahman Al Owais, (Derman, 2009, no.34 and 34a, pp.146-49). A single panel signed by Isma’il Zuhdi was sold at Christie’s South Kensington, 16 April 2010, lot 328.
Ism’ail Zuhdi who executed this hilyeh is not to be mistaken for Isma’il Zuhdi the Elder (d. 1731) who was a celebrated master of naskh and thuluth and practiced calligraphy with Sayyid 'Abdullah of Yedikule (d. 1731 AD) and Anbarizade Dervish 'Ali (d. 1715).
Zuhdi was praised for his elegant thuluth and was commissioned to produce and inscription panel for the mausoleum of Shah Sultan, the sister of Sultan Selim III (r.1789-1807). His style of thuluth and naskh are said to follow that of Hafiz ‘Uthman and the letter forms are distinguished by his full range of pen strokes. Zuhdi died on 1 Shawwal AH 1221/12 December 1806 AD and was buried in the cemetery of Edirnekapi. His headstone was said to have been written by Mustafa Raqim.
Four calligraphic panels by Isma'il Zuhdi are in the Sabanci collection in Istanbul, as well as in the Topkapi Saray Museum and in the Museum of Islamic Calligraphy - also in Istanbul (Karahan, 1985, plate 15). Two further panels are in the collection of Abdul Rahman Al Owais, (Derman, 2009, no.34 and 34a, pp.146-49). A single panel signed by Isma’il Zuhdi was sold at Christie’s South Kensington, 16 April 2010, lot 328.
Ism’ail Zuhdi who executed this hilyeh is not to be mistaken for Isma’il Zuhdi the Elder (d. 1731) who was a celebrated master of naskh and thuluth and practiced calligraphy with Sayyid 'Abdullah of Yedikule (d. 1731 AD) and Anbarizade Dervish 'Ali (d. 1715).