Author
Only the box was made by Ali Askudari.
Author Original
العلبة فقط صنعت على يد علي أسكوداري
Publication Date
Quill cutting template, polishing tool and knife: 12th-13th / 18th-19th century; Box: 1131/1718
Publication Place
-
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
Subject
Quill cutting template: embossed ivory; Polishing tool: glass; Knife: carved bone and metal; Scissors: iron inlaid with gold; Box: cardboard, leather, metal.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
قالب قص الريشة: الطول: 19 سم؛ أداة الصقل: الطول: 16 سم؛ السكين: الطول: 19.5 سم؛ المقص: الطول: 22.5 سم؛ العلبة: الطول: 32 سم، القطر(عند القاعدة): 4 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
قالب قص الريشة: L.T. 12؛ أداة صقل: 3371؛ سكين: 334
Record ID
object;ISL;tr;Mus01;43;ar
Library Location
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts
Date
Quill cutting template, polishing tool and knife: 12th-13th / 18th-19th century; Box: 1131/1718
Notes
The mold for cutting the feather is made of finely carved ivory. Its upper section shows an imam by a Mawlawi dervish hanging on a pedestal, and the lower section contains a tree in a pot. The Umrah made by the craftsman suggests the Mawlawi brotherhood of which he was a member. The polishing tool is made of glass, and its size is so large that it fills the palm of the hand. The knife blade is made of metal, while the handle, which is made of bone, ends in the shape of a closed-fingered hand. The scissors were made of iron, and their entire surface was decorated with floral designs inlaid with gold. As for the fist, it takes the form of two inscriptions on which is written 'O Fattah', which is one of the ninety-nine beautiful names of God, and means: 'God is the opener of all doors.' The box has a cylindrical shape, is made of thick cardboard covered with black leather, and has a copper inkwell at its base. The outer surface of the box is decorated with Turkish Baroque-Rococo decoration with spiral branches and roses of various colors and gold decoration, executed with the lacquer technique known as Edirnkari. The box was made by Ali Askudari, and its distinctive feature is that it contains an ink store. Written decoration was one of the most important fields through which Islamic art expressed itself. The Ottoman Sultans in particular received lessons in calligraphy and created their own styles. Ahmed III, Mustafa II, Mahmoud II, and Abd al-Majid I are considered among the sultans skilled in the art of calligraphy. The calligrapher used these tools, where he cut the paper with scissors and then polished it with a polishing tool to make it shiny, and then put it in the box to protect it. He takes the bamboo writing reed and places it in a template for cutting the quill, then sharpens it with a knife according to the thickness he wants. Then he writes with a sketch pen using the ink that he deposited in the inkwell. All these tools were kept together in a writing box. The calligrapher's tools themselves were the subject of a work of art, as they were decorated according to the taste of the era in which they were produced. There are symbolic images that adorn writing instruments, as is the case with the feather-cutting template in this collection, which reflects the Dervish brotherhood to which the calligrapher belongs.
Sample Text
Şule Aksoy “Writing Instruments” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tr;Mus01;43;ar
