Ottoman Empire - Illuminated Prayer Sheet. - Ottoman - 1799

Please find one rare and beautifully illustrated decorative finispiece (colophon) from a book of prayers dated on its last page AH1211 (AD 1799). The work is notable for the quality of its illumination.

The colophon translates as: "O Allah, forgive us and all the believing men and believing women, and the Muslim men and Muslim women, the icing among them and the dead, by Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful".

The decorative composition blends several traditions: the gold arabesque scrollwork and split-leaf (sax) forms are Ottoman/Persian in origin; the serpentine cloud-band (chi) motifs winding through the gold ground derive from Chinese cloud collar designs absorbed into Persianate art; the small sprigged flowers (tulips and carnations) in the blue cartouches reflect Ottoman naturalistic floral style; and the arch-like framing recalls mihrab architecture, reinforcing the sense of the heavenly gateway.

This piece demonstrates real cross-cultural artistic exchange in how Arabic/Islamic manuscript art absorbed and Arabised Persian, Ottoman and even Chinese decorative motifs, reflecting the vast trade and cultural networks of the Islamic world.

There is some minor repair made to the right inner framework of the illumination, but otherwise this is in very good condition for its age.

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