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Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy
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Bayts (verses) of poetry
AUTHOR/CREATOR
Calligrapher: unknown
CREATED/PUBLISHED
19th century
NOTES
Dimensions of Written Surface: 12 (w) x 19.5 (h) cm
Script: nasta'liq in khatt-i nakhani
This calligraphic fragment is unique in the collections of the Library of Congress, as it uses no ink at all. Instead, the text is executed in a style known as "fingernail calligraphy" (khatt-i nakhani), in which either a nail or a metal stylus is used to create topographical impressions on a monochromatic (usually white) sheet of paper. Although not very much is known about this inkless calligraphic practice, a number of signed and dated specimens held in international collections (the New York Public Library, the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland, the Gulistan Palace in Tehran) prove that khatt-i nakhani thrived during the 19th century in Persia (Iran). At least three albums (Gulistan mss. 1568-70) were made by the calligrapher 'Ali Akbar Darvish 1266-7/1849-51 for the Qajar ruler Nasir al-Din Shah (r. 1848-96), while even the daughter of the ruler Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797-1834), Fakhr-i Jahan, was a master of the technique, herself having created an album of ten "fingernail" paintings and calligraphies (Gulistan ms. 1574). Possibly linked to the rise of lithography and the printing press, this Qajar practice discards the traditional tools of the reed pen and ink in favor of a more abstract and experimental approach towards calligraphy.
This particular example of khatt-i nakhani in nasta'liq script includes one bayt (lines 2 and 4) of poetry unrelated to two single verses or tak bayts (lines 1 and 3). Although difficult to decipher, the verses describe human vagabondage:
Bayt (lines 2 and 4):
Rashta'i dar gardanam afkanda dust / Mikashad har ja ka khatir khwahu-st
A friend has placed a rope around my neck, / He drags me anywhere he wants.
Tak Bayts (lines 1 and 3):
Ikhtiyari dar safar nabud mara / Manzalam gah Ka'ba sazad gah dayr
I had no choice in my travel: / Sometimes (He) builds my home as the Ka'ba, sometimes as a monastery.
SUBJECT
Nasta'liq in khatt-i nakhani
Islamic manuscripts
Islamic calligraphy
Illuminated Islamic manuscripts
Arabic script calligraphy
Poetry
Arabic calligraphy
MEDIUM
18.4 (w) x 28.9 (h) cm
CALL NUMBER
1-85-154.63
REPOSITORY
Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Washington, D.C. 20540
DIGITAL ID
ascs 109
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.109
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