Ottoman Turkey
dated 1324 AH (1906–7 AD)
cut from cream paper; backed onto dark-blue paper
executed in jali thulth and riqa‘ scripts
56 x 78.5cm
The text is the shahadah and bears the signature of the calligrapher ‘Arif, as well as that of the person who executed the cut-out work, Rifqi (Rifki).
N.F. Safwat, The Art of the Pen. Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume V, London 1996, cat.142, pp.200 and 203.