OTTOMAN TURKEY, 17TH CENTURY

Details

A SILK AND METAL-THREAD CALLIGRAPHIC FRAGMENT
OTTOMAN TURKEY, 17TH CENTURY
The black satin ground woven with a column of linked ovals each containing a silver-thread thuluth inscription, flanked at each side by similar smaller panel, a band of inscription between the first fragmentary oval and the second oval, and between the penultimate and final ovals, selvages on both sides, mounted and framed
32 5/8 x 6 ¼in. (82.8 x 16cm.)

Provenance

The Dr. Amir Pakzad Museum, Hannover, Germany

Engraved

Calligraphic panels, Alahim salla wa sallam alayhi - 'the prayers and blessings of God upon him'
The main cartouches, Muhammad wa Ahmad wa shafia' wa mushfa'm musdaqa wa rahmaha li'l-'alamin - 'to Muhammad and Ahmad, interceding and interceded, affirmed and committed to the heavens'.
The small cartouches to each side with the names of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Hasan, Husayn, Talha, Zubayr, Sa'ad, Sa'id, 'Abd al-Rahman, and Abu 'Ubayda, and ending with the benedictory phrases radha Allahi, 'may Allah be pleased with him' and ta'ali 'anhumi, - 'may [his name] be exalted'

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

According to Hülya Tezcan, lampas bands of this design were used in the Topkapi Palace to run between larger textile hangings, such as curtains or sarcophagus covers (Sacred Covers of Islam's Holy Shrines, Istanbul, 2017, p.174, no.20). This fragment therefore includes the full width, and would have continued to repeat at both the upper and lower ends. The figures named on them are those who, according to tradition, would be immediately granted entry to Paradise on their death.

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