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Lot Essay
The elegant nasta'liq script displayed by this manuscript reflects the mastery of the scribe, also known as Mehmed Zeki Dede Efendi, who is considered one of the most important Ottoman scribes in the nasta’liq script. Our scribe trained under Mirza Aga Afshar who was born in Azerbaijan and trained in nasta’liq, but subsequently relocated to Bursa to escape political persecution. After a great earthquake in 1854 Mehmed Zeki Dedeefendi sold his house in the vicinity of Sa'di Lodge and relocated to Istanbul, where he taught under the guidance of Grand Vizier Yusuf Kamil Pasha and eventually became a teacher of nasta’liq in the Fetvahane.
The illumination of this manuscript is in keeping with the Ottoman Baroque style which flourished in the early 19th century and 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 would strongly suggest that they were illuminated by the same artist or, at the very least, artists working in the same court workshop.
The illumination of this manuscript is in keeping with the Ottoman Baroque style which flourished in the early 19th century and 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 would strongly suggest that they were illuminated by the same artist or, at the very least, artists working in the same court workshop.