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Manuscript/Mixed Material Mufradat exercises

About this Item

Title

  • Mufradat exercises

Created / Published

  • 17th century

Headings

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

Notes

  • -  Illuminated carpet page of letter (mufradat) exercises on three horizontal lines and Persian poetic excerpts from Timurid and Safavid era Iran.
  • -  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 (in the Turkish tradition, murekkebe, lit. "pairs"). Exercise books begin at least by the 17th-century in Ottoman and Persian lands. They were used as books of exemplars of calligraphy to introduce students into the practice of husn al-khatt (beautiful handwriting) and bear witness to the chain of transmission of calligraphic knowledge throughout the centuries (Safwat 1996: 12-3).
  • -  Dimensions of Written Surface: 11.1 (w) x 19.7 (h) cm
  • -  The lowest horizontal band containing motifs on a black ground and two gold scalloped roundels is composed of two rectangular panels cut out from another work and pasted onto the sheet. This procedure shows that materials were culled from other sources and 'recycled' in other works, such as this poetical letter album.
  • -  There are a number of other letter exercise albums in the collections of the Library of Congress. One album stands out in particular, as it is complete and was signed by the 20th-century calligrapher Muhammad Muhsin (see 1-87-154.128a-b, 1-87-154.128b and 1-88-154.36a-b).
  • -  This fragment includes double letter combinations with the letters b, gutteral t and gutteral s, and subsequent letters of the alphabet arranged in three horizontal registers. Immediately below each horizontal band of composite letters appear a series of Persian verses by several authors. The poetry of Abu Sa'id Abu al-Khayr and Shaykh Awhad al-Din is quoted. Awhad al-Din can be identified as Hakim Awhad al-Din Anvari (d. ca. 1189), an early Persian poet who composed a compendium of poems (kulliyat) often quoted in illuminated or illustrated poetical works produced during Timurid and Safavid rule in Iran.
  • -  This particular calligraphic fragment creates an illuminated carpet page, which combines letter (mufradat) exercises on three horizontal lines and Persian poetical excerpts written in diagonal between colored triangular corners (called "thumb pieces"). It is the first of two fragments from the same fragmentary album held in the collections of the Library of Congress (see 1-85-154.81).
  • -  Script: nasta'liq
  • -  1-85-154.80

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 21.4 (w) x 32.4 (h) cm

Repository

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

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2019714619

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:

Mufradat Exercises. 17th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714619/.

APA citation style:

Mufradat Exercises. 17th Century. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2019714619/.

MLA citation style:

Mufradat Exercises. 17th Century. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2019714619/>.