The opening page to a travelling prayer book of Ottoman origin, dated early C19th, C1820. Beautifully illuminated floral decorations were used on Ottoman prayer books, Qur’an frontispieces, tobacco pouches, kaftans, imperial tents, and decorative mattress covers. The presence of flowers and floral motifs transcended their decorative function to reflect spiritual, cultural and literary connotations. The fondness for flowers among Muslims is partly due to religious provisions. The Prophet Muhammad was said to have loved the scent of flowers. Because the religion of Islam forbids the use of pictures of living creatures in public, floral decoration took a prominent position in the art of illumination of the Qur'an and prayer books. In this case, the opening page has been crowned with a rose together with accompanying botanicals. The rose and tulip are the flowers most prominently appearing in Ottoman history. Ottoman literary figures say, "If there is a sultana (queen) of all flowers that bloom with the arrival of spring, it is rose." Below the header is the opening Surah, although sadly the script has been wiped away over time. The script below this is black naskh, pillowed with gold clouds and simple gold aya (verse markings) with 6 radials. The scripture is bordered by a floral decoration in blue, below which is another Surah (also with the script wiped away). Surrounding the whole is a deep border in gold and blue floral decor and a simple framing device. This small but intoxicating leaf will grace any collection and would make a wonderful gift. Please note that shipping costs are not solely the cost of the postal delivery service itself. Included within the shipping price is the work undertaken to prepare the article, for photography, for uploading to Catawiki, for preparation and packaging the article securely and for transporting the article to the postal delivery agent for processing. Also, please consider when bidding on this lot that this artwork is shipped from the UK. Import duties will now have to be paid by the recipient to the Postal Service when the parcel arrives in your country. This will likely vary between 5% and 20% of the sale price depending on your country's Import Rate, so please check this if you are concerned. This is a Tax collected on behalf of your Government and is not an additional fee charged by us.