Qiblah Compass

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Materials: engraved brass plate on a wooden base, with a magnetized needle; paintings in opaque watercolour and gold on paper, under glass

Dimensions: 20.2 x 18cm (overall); 10 x 7cm (painted area)

Accession Number: SCI 457

Other Notes:

The recessed oval area has depictions of the sanctuaries at Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. The paintings are signed, tersim al-‘abd Fakhri fi dar al-saltanah Qustantiniyyah (‘painted by the servant [of God] Fakhri in the Abode of the Sultanate, Constantinople’).