An illuminated firman bearing the tughra of Suleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520-66), Turkey, Ottoman, dated 10 Rabi' II 973 AH/4 November 1565 AD

Comprising 3 sections, Ottoman Turkish manuscript on paper, 7 lines to the page in diwani script in black and gold ink, gold roundels, surmounted by a large tughra of Suleyman the Magnificent in gold, blue, red and pink, framed

26.6 by 37.4cm.;21.2 by 29.5cm.; 21.2 by 29.5cm.

Calligraphie islamique; textes sacrés et profanes, Geneva, 1988, pp. 136-7. no. 38.

O. Hoare, The Unity of Islamic Art: An Exhibition to Inaugurate the Islamic Art Gallery of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1405 AH/1985 AD Riyadh, 1985, pp.48-49, no.29.

The tughra is a calligraphic monogram of the sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. The tradition began in the first years of the Ottoman rule in 1324, but the simplistic form of the earliest tughras soon gave way to complex and intricately illuminated examples that were considered works of art in their own right, and required the employment of specially trained artists, known as tughrakeş. This firman bears the tughra of Süleyman the Magnificent. Illuminated with feathery saz leaves, delicate cloudbands and undulating arabesques, it exemplifies the height of Ottoman artistic production in the mid-16th century. The body of the text is written in diwani script, a cursive style developed by the Ottomans and favoured by the imperial courts as a script at once decorative and communicative. Such luxurious documents would have been used to impress the recipient with the grandeur and opulence of the imperial court that issued them.