Arts of the Islamic World & India including Fine Rugs and Carpets

A calligraphic muraqqa’, signed by Hafiz Osman (d.1698), Turkey, Ottoman, dated 1109 AH/1697 AD

Auction Closed

October 27, 03:41 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Arabic manuscript on paper, comprising 16 panels of calligraphy on album pages laid down on leather, each panel with 2 lines of text in large and bold thuluth script in black ink, verses separated by illuminated rosettes, margins ruled in gold, the outer borders of coloured paper sprinkled with gold, the first panel signed and dated, in red morocco binding with central medallions and outer borders tooled in gold

24.5 by 15cm.

Sotheby's London, 13 October 1989, lot 61.

After Shaykh Hamdullah and Ahmed Karahisari, Hafiz Osman is considered the greatest Ottoman calligrapher. Born in Istanbul in 1642, he worked under the patronage of the Grand Vizier Koprulu-zadeh Mustafa Pasha and was a member of the Sunbuliye order, based in the dervish-lodge in the region of Koca-Mustafa-Pasha in Istanbul. He perfected his own particular style of naskh script, which would go on to influence future generations of Ottoman calligraphers. He was also a great teacher and numbered the sultans Mustafa II (r.1695-1703 AD) and Ahmed III (r.1703-30 AD) among his students. This calligraphic exercise was completed by him just a year before he died.

A Qur'an copied by Hafiz Osman and dated 1082 AH/1671 AD was sold in these rooms 20 November 1986, lot 326. A panel of calligraphy by Hafiz Osman was sold on 5 October 2011, lot 74, and another, paired with a panel by Isma'il Zuhdi, on 19 October 2016, lot 142. A further calligraphic example signed by Osman sold on 26 April 2017, lot 73.