AN OTTOMAN QIBLA INDICATOR, TURKEY, 19TH CENTURY

A Qibla indicator dated 990 AH/1582-83 AD, now in the British Museum, bears the names of the cities encircling the Ka'ba and, as in the present example, only the name Constantinople is picked out in red, indicating the latitude for which the instruments were created (Porter 2012, p.35). This piece is close in form and style to the British Museum indicator, but is likely to have been made in the nineteenth century.

A further Qibla indicator dated 1151 AH/1738 AD is in the Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (MIA3348, illustrated in Porter 2012, p.36), and another sold at Christie's London, 20 October 2016, lot 183.