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About this Item

Title

  • Letter exercise

Created / Published

  • 18th century

Headings

  • -  Calligraphy, Arabic
  • -  Calligraphy, Persian
  • -  Calligraphy, Ottoman
  • -  Manuscripts, Persian--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Manuscripts, Ottoman--Washington (D.C.)
  • -  Calligraphy, Indian
  • -  Arabic script calligraphy
  • -  Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Islamic calligraphy
  • -  Islamic manuscripts
  • -  Nasta'liq

Notes

  • -  Letter exercise in nasta'liq script used among calligraphers active in 18th-century India.
  • -  Although the calligraphic panel is not signed, a note appears on the fragment's verso. It reads: "by the hand of (bi-khatt-i) Muhammad Sa'd (or Sa'id) al-Din." This note may be a later attribution of the calligraphic panel to Muhammad Sa'd (or Sa'id) al-Din, about whom information is wanting.
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 40.6 (w) x 19.7 (h) cm
  • -  This calligraphic fragment includes an exercise in nasta'liq script that consists in combining letters (mufradat) in various formations. Albums of mufradat exercises include the single letters (al-huruf al-mufradah or, in the Ottoman tradition, huruf-i muqatta'a) of the Arabic alphabet in sequence, followed by letters in their composite form. Exercise books begin at least by the 16th century. They were used as books of exemplars of calligraphy to introduce students into the practice of handwriting and provide chains of transmission of calligraphic knowledge throughout the centuries (Safwat 1996:12-3).
  • -  This particular fragment bears witness to the practice of mufradat exercises in nasta'liq script that seems to have existed among calligraphers active in 18th-century India. The script and decorative patterns -- most especially the marble (abri or ebru) papers used both for the text panel and the outside frame backed by cardboard -- support such a provenance.
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-84-154.39

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 49 (w) x 30.8 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714595

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:

Letter Exercise. 18th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714595/.

APA citation style:

Letter Exercise. 18th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714595/.

MLA citation style:

Letter Exercise. 18th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714595/>.