A large calligraphic composition, signed by Mehmed Şefik, Turkey, Ottoman,...

opaque pigments on cloth, comprising a large central composition of ya 'Ali in the form of Imam 'Ali's sword Zulfiqar, flanked by prayers in thuluth, signed lower left, framed
58 by 63cm. framed

Condition Report:
Overall light creases to the cloth ground and minor rubbing to the pigments, as shown in the illustration. As viewed.

Catalogue Note:
Mehmed Şefik (d.1880) studied under Ali Vasfi Efendi before becoming one of the famous students of Mustafa Izzet Efendi who was also his uncle by marriage. He was known as a master of thuluth, naskh and divani but also studied nasta'liq under Ali Haydar Bey, grandson of Melek Pasha. As well as working in the imperial chancery, he was the calligraphy tutor to several institutions, including The First Regiment of the Palace Cavalry and the Imperial College of Music, and later became tutor to the officials of the Sultan's palace. He worked on numerous important architectural commissions, including the repairs to the inscriptions in the Ulu Camii in Bursa, Qur'anic verses on the mausoleum of Abdülmecid and the Dome of the Rock, and the relief inscriptions on the gate to what is now Istanbul University (Rado 1984, pp.220-1 and M. Ugur Derman 1989, p.122). A calligraphic panel designed by the scribe is in the MET, New York (acc.no. 2005.252).