SIGNED AHMAD [SIYAHI EFFENDI], OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED AH 1099/1687-88 AD

Details

THE NADA 'ALI QUATRAIN
SIGNED AHMAD [SIYAHI EFFENDI], OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED AH 1099/1687-88 AD
Arabic manuscript on gold-speckled paper, with 4ll. of elegant black diagonal nasta'liq, a short dedication above, signed and dated, katabahu al-'abd al-faqir al-haqir al-mudhnib ahmad ghafara dhunubahu wa satara 'uyubahu sana 1099 in the lower left hand corner, set within gold rules, mounted, glazed and framed
Calligraphy 6 7/8 x 3¼in. (17.6 x 8.1cm.); mount 13 3/8 x 9 5/8in. (34 x 24.3cm.)

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Lot Essay

Born in Istanbul, Siyahi Ahmad was the son of Salih Effendi. He studied calligraphy with Tophaneli Mahmud Effendi (d.1669). Due to his mastery in the nasta'liq script, he was praised as "the Imad of his age". He worked as a military chancellor and passed away in 1687. This qit'a must therefore be amongst his last (Mustaqimzade Suleyman Saadeddin Effendi, Tuhfah-i Khattatin, Istanbul, 1928, p.643).

Examples of seventeenth century Ottoman nasta'liq rarely appear on the market. Ahmad Siyahi, along with 'Abdi of Bukhara and his teacher Tophaneli Mahmud, are regarded the founders of the Ottoman nasta'liq school.

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