.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The author of the Kaside-i Elfiye is not known but the text was a favorite amongst master calligraphers such as the great Muhammad Shawqi (Sevki) Effendi (d. 1887). Every line starts by indicating one Arabic letter, beginning with the alif and ending with the ya'.
'Abd Allah al-Zuhdi Effendi was a master Ottoman calligrapher, painter and illuminator who is thought to have been born in Damascus, Syria. He emigrated with his family to Istanbul. He was an outstanding student of the great calligrapher 'Kadiasker' Mustafa Izzet Effendi (d. 1876) and was chosen by Ottoman Sultan Abdlumecid to do the calligraphy for the inscriptions for the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. He remained in Medina for some seven years, after which he left to work in Egypt, where he died in 1879.
Al-Zuhdi's illumination skills are discussed in Nabil F. Safwat, 'The Calligrapher-Illuminator: The Hybrid Vigor' in Sifting Sands, Reading Signs, Studies in Honour of Professor Geza Fehervari, London 2006, pp. 37-43.
'Abd Allah al-Zuhdi Effendi was a master Ottoman calligrapher, painter and illuminator who is thought to have been born in Damascus, Syria. He emigrated with his family to Istanbul. He was an outstanding student of the great calligrapher 'Kadiasker' Mustafa Izzet Effendi (d. 1876) and was chosen by Ottoman Sultan Abdlumecid to do the calligraphy for the inscriptions for the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. He remained in Medina for some seven years, after which he left to work in Egypt, where he died in 1879.
Al-Zuhdi's illumination skills are discussed in Nabil F. Safwat, 'The Calligrapher-Illuminator: The Hybrid Vigor' in Sifting Sands, Reading Signs, Studies in Honour of Professor Geza Fehervari, London 2006, pp. 37-43.