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Page with stylized calligraphy set in an illuminated rose
Ottoman period
19th century
Object Place: Turkey or Iran
Medium/Technique
Ink, color and gold on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 25.4 × 16.5 cm (10 × 6 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Helen and Alice Colburn Fund
Accession Number29.76
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAsia, Islamic Art
ClassificationsBooks and manuscripts
This dynamically painted rose is inscribed with stylized calligraphy that reads, "ʿAllāh Muḥammad 'Alī." In the late Ottoman Empire, poets and artists often used metaphors of the rose to convey the personal and physical characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad. In this folio, notions of light, beauty, and scent are heightened by bordering papers speckled with gold leaf.
DescriptionSingle folio; stylized rose; Persian text on reverse
ProvenanceMiss Elizabeth (Riefstahl) Titzel (b. 1889 - d. 1986), New York; 1929, sold by Miss Elizabeth (Riefstahl) Titzel to the MFA for $5000.00 (total price for 29.56-136). (Accession Date: January 3, 1929)