A calligraphic scroll section, Turkey or Persia, Ottoman or Timurid, mid-15th century

Arabic manuscript on paper, 12 lines to the page, split into 4 registers; the 1st and 3rd in large and bold muhaqqaq script, the 2nd in square Kufic and the 4th in smaller neat muhaqqaq, pointed gold florets variously interspersed between the letters

50.5 by 34cm.

inscriptions

First, third and fourth band: The text is from surah al-Baqarah (II), verse 255, ayat al-kursi, the 'Throne Verse' and part of verse 256.

Second line: The right hand panel of the square Kufic band comprises the Shahadah, and the rest of the line is verse 22 of surah al-Hashr (LIX).

This leaf would once have been at the beginning of a large scroll, probably with a decorated headpiece and a Bismillah above the existing text. The calligraphy echoes the superb bold muhaqqaq script of the 'Baysunghur Qur'an' attributed to the Timurid courts in the early 15th century. The sweeping strokes of the muhaqqaq is juxtaposed against a panel of angular square Kufic script. The addition of the square Kufic panel might suggest a manufacture in Ottoman Turkey given that similarly formed calligraphic compositions are later found in Ottoman works such as those by Ahmad Karahisari. The scroll was produced in the 15th century at a time when artists from Persia were flocking to the Ottoman courts under the patronage of Mehmet II (r. 1444-46; 1451-81). It is probable that the present scroll was produced by a Persian artist working in Ottoman Turkey and bears witness to the calligraphic traditions of both centres.