Scaled calligraphic exercise

Scaled calligraphic exercises (ölçülü talim meşki) are designed to illustrate aesthetic principles, using dots, lines and other marks to define the size and form of the letters and links between letters. Like the karalamas (literally scribbles) which calligraphers used frequently to maintain a high level of manual dexterity, these scaled exercises were a way of keeping in practice. For master calligraphers with their own styles they were also a way of exploring the ideal proportions of letters and words, and served as models for young calligraphers following in their footsteps. In his colophon to this exercise, Abdurrahman Hilmi says that his teacher was Mehmed Rasim Efendi of Eğrikapı (d. 1756), and we know that Abdurrahman Hilmi himself went on to teach calligraphy. The example of his work exhibited here must be one that he used when teaching his pupils. Although it is only an exercise, the letters are arranged in a balanced composition all over the paper, and the spaces between the writing are decorated with small flowers and leaves.