Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu

Gilded mirror inscription

1286 / 1869

Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi (Emirgan, İstanbul, Türkiye)

Mehmed Şefik wrote the templates for this mirror inscription (müsenna). This type of inscription consists of a word or group of words written twice as a symmetrical mirror image interlocking down the centre. Calligraphers begin by writing the word in an istif design (one with the letters written one above the other), and then drew its mirror image. These balanced compositions are difficult to read but striking to look at. Celi sülüs is the script most often used for compositions of this kind.1 In this example, Mehmed Şefik has written the Arabic religious formula, La ilâhe illallâhu huve rabbî ve rabbu’l-âlemîn (There is no god but God, who is my lord and lord of the worlds). The calligrapher has signed his name as ‘Mehmed Şefik’ at the bottom, and the date AH 1286 in two parts in the corners below the inscription. The outer border is decorated in the style known as Turkish rococo.

Detail

Collection
Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu
Title
Gilded mirror inscription
Date
1286 / 1869
Dimensions
62 x 51,5 cm
Medium
Thick paper, paint, gold ink
Location
Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi (Emirgan, İstanbul, Türkiye)
Object Number
130-0245-MSF
Credit
© Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum


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Categories

Subject

Kitap Sanatları ve Hat Koleksiyonu

Format

Thick paper, paint, gold ink

Date / Term

1286 / 1869

Geographical Location

Istanbul, Turkey