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Lot Essay
The fine rococo-style illumination of this manuscript is closely comparable to the Alif-Ba Mufredat now in the Topkapi Palace Library (inv.no.TSM.EH436, published in Nurhan Atasoy, A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture, 2002, pp.190-1). There is an unmistakable resemblance between the treatment of the floral vases in both manuscripts which strongly suggests that they were illuminated by the same artist or, at the very least, artists working in the same court workshop.
The fine illumination of this manuscript is complemented by the elegant naskh script. The scribe, Mehmet al-Wafa was known as Hisari, born in the Hisar district of Istanbul, and was active during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-1839). His mastery of the script has been praised by Ottoman historian Habib Efendi who applauds him as “the leader of calligraphers of his age…” [asrında hattat-ı piş-kadem…] (Habib Efendi, Khatt u Khattatan, Matbaa-i Ebuzziya, Kostantiniyye, AH 1305/1887 AD, p.179).
The fine illumination of this manuscript is complemented by the elegant naskh script. The scribe, Mehmet al-Wafa was known as Hisari, born in the Hisar district of Istanbul, and was active during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-1839). His mastery of the script has been praised by Ottoman historian Habib Efendi who applauds him as “the leader of calligraphers of his age…” [asrında hattat-ı piş-kadem…] (Habib Efendi, Khatt u Khattatan, Matbaa-i Ebuzziya, Kostantiniyye, AH 1305/1887 AD, p.179).