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About this Item

Title

  • Wall hanging

Created / Published

  • 18th-19th centuries

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Ottoman
  • -  Manuscripts, Arabic--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Turkey
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Découpage
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts

Notes

  • -  A Qit'a, or literally "cutting out" a découpage panel in the shape of a closed altar piece with Qur'anic verses typical of Ottoman Turkey in the 18th or 19th century.
  • -  Another découpage calligraphic panel similar to this piece also is held in the Library of Congress (1-84-154.6): this piece may have been the companion piece of 1-84-154.5.
  • -  Diameter of calligraphic circle: 15.1 cm
  • -  Diameter of calligraphic circle: 15.1 cm
  • -  The extractive technique of découpage is known in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish as qit'a, or literally "cutting out," and artists specializing in this technique were called qati'an (cutters). It appears that découpage calligraphy became popular around the last quarter of the 15th century, as Qadi Ahmad's treatise of 1015/1606 on the subject makes clear (Qadi Ahmad 1959: 17 and 174-94). Although the technique of découpage emerges during the second half of the 15th century, it became a popular tool for the making of Ottoman kalips (calligraphic perforated sheets) during the 16th-19th centuries (Safwat 1996: 142-43 and 194). For example, one Ottoman work of découpage made by a certain Suleyman is dated 1282/1865-6 (Safwat 1996: 200-1, cat. no. 140). For these reasons, it is logical to assume that this découpage work was made in Ottoman Turkey in the 18th or 19th century.
  • -  This découpage panel in the shape of a closed altar piece includes a central roundel decorated with interlacing letters whose stems form a central six-pointed star. The round inscription is difficult to decipher, and may comprise a wise saying or a verse from the Qur'an. In the middle of the upper arch, a round hook suggests that it was used as a wall hanging.
  • -  Script: découpage
  • -  1-84-154.5

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 18 x 23.7 cm

Repository

  • Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714582

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Wall Hanging. 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714582/.

APA citation style:

Wall Hanging. 18th-19th Centuries. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714582/.

MLA citation style:

Wall Hanging. 18th-19th Centuries. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714582/>.