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Lot Essay
This beautifully preserved prayer book is remarkable for its small size, and for its illuminations. The wording of the signature on our manuscript indicates that ‘Abd al-Rahman Hilmi was both the calligrapher and the illuminator of this beautiful prayer book. ‘Abd al-Rahman Hilmi is recorded as one of the few named Ottoman calligraphers active in Shumen in north-east Bulgaria in the second half of the nineteenth century, part of the master-student lineage of the renowned Hafiz Osman. The colophon states that he was the student of Sayyid Mehmed Al-Sukuti, who was in turn a student of Kadizade Sayyid Mehmed al-Husayni Efendi, who in turn studied under the celebrated master Egrikapili Mehmed Rasim Efendi, the student of Hafiz Osman's foremost student Yedikuleli Seyyid Abdullah Efendi. This lineage was featured on an Ijaza sold in these Rooms, 10 October 2014, lot 418.
Two of our calligrapher’s recorded works were given as gifts from Sultan Abdulhamid II (r.1876-1909) (Stanley, 2000, p.507). The first, dated AH 1280/1865-66 AD was given to Ali Rif'at Pasha on his accession as Khedive of Egypt in AH 1302/1884-85 AD and was sold in these Rooms, 23 April 1991, lot 71, the second was gifted to al-Husayn, Sherif of Mecca (ibid.). This demonstrates the extraordinary regard 'Abd al-Rahman Hilmi's works held as they were considered as royal and diplomatic gifts.
The surviving examples of Ottoman Qur’ans and prayer books produced in Shumen reflect the city's role as a leading provincial centre for the production of manuscripts for much of this period. The illumination is typical of the Shumen style which features an opening bifolio in the traditional layout, but is filled with a well-modulated combination of modified Ottoman and novel European motifs. The colour palette used in our copy such as white, pink, pale-blue, purple, orange and green are another feature of Shumen Qur'an’s and prayer books which were far more prominent than in traditional illuminations, in which gold and blue grounds played a dominant role (Stanley, 2009, pp.248 and 227). Other copies of Qur’ans written by Shumen calligraphers were sold in these Rooms 12 October 1978, lot 7 (a copy executed in Shumen in AH 1264/1847-48), 16 June 1987, lot 82, 26 October 2017, lot 229 and at Sotheby’s, London, 21 November 1985, lot 390.
A similar miniature An'am Sharif was sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2018, lot 180.
Please see lot XXXX for a Qur’an also produced in Shumen.
Two of our calligrapher’s recorded works were given as gifts from Sultan Abdulhamid II (r.1876-1909) (Stanley, 2000, p.507). The first, dated AH 1280/1865-66 AD was given to Ali Rif'at Pasha on his accession as Khedive of Egypt in AH 1302/1884-85 AD and was sold in these Rooms, 23 April 1991, lot 71, the second was gifted to al-Husayn, Sherif of Mecca (ibid.). This demonstrates the extraordinary regard 'Abd al-Rahman Hilmi's works held as they were considered as royal and diplomatic gifts.
The surviving examples of Ottoman Qur’ans and prayer books produced in Shumen reflect the city's role as a leading provincial centre for the production of manuscripts for much of this period. The illumination is typical of the Shumen style which features an opening bifolio in the traditional layout, but is filled with a well-modulated combination of modified Ottoman and novel European motifs. The colour palette used in our copy such as white, pink, pale-blue, purple, orange and green are another feature of Shumen Qur'an’s and prayer books which were far more prominent than in traditional illuminations, in which gold and blue grounds played a dominant role (Stanley, 2009, pp.248 and 227). Other copies of Qur’ans written by Shumen calligraphers were sold in these Rooms 12 October 1978, lot 7 (a copy executed in Shumen in AH 1264/1847-48), 16 June 1987, lot 82, 26 October 2017, lot 229 and at Sotheby’s, London, 21 November 1985, lot 390.
A similar miniature An'am Sharif was sold in these Rooms, 26 April 2018, lot 180.
Please see lot XXXX for a Qur’an also produced in Shumen.