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Fahri of Bursa

Page from a Poetry Album

Maker

Fahri of Bursa (Turkish, d. 1617)

Title

Page from a Poetry Album

Period

ottoman

Year

late 1500s-early 1600s

Medium

  • Gold paper script on blue paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Gold paper script on blue paper

Supports

  • paper mounted as an album page

Geography

Origin: Turkey

Dimensions

17.1 x 10.5 cm (6 3/4 x 4 1/8 inches) Overall, mat size: A; Asian Art Department Carpenter Inventory and Cataloging Project 2004-2005; Ove

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: O Lord, may your felicity be daily increasing; may your noble foot be over the celestial sphere
Since you command the good and evil of the age, may your command and destiny be of the same content.
Jami?
(Translations by Wheeler Thackston, Professor of Persian and Other Near Eastern Languages, Harvard University)

Signature: Signed Fahri of Bursa

Inscription: Inscribed number in ink on label adhered verso, top right: P606A

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Anonymous gift

Object Number

17.490

Type

  • Manuscripts

Publications

  • Journal

Glimpses of Grandeur: Courtly Arts of the Later Islamic Empires

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 4: Blue

Exhibition History

Text, Paratext, and Images
Sep 01, 2020 – Jul 24, 2021

Label copy

In this striking example of papercutting, the artist meticulously cut out calligraphic letters and adhered them onto a richly colored background. The slanted text, appearing as if it were penned in gold ink, shows the artist’s virtuosity.

The script is a short poem addressed to a ruler, acknowledging his power. It reads:

“O Lord, may your felicity be daily increasing; may your noble foot be over the celestial sphere

Since you command the good and evil of the age, may your command and destiny be of the same content.”

Translation by Wheeler Thackston, Harvard University, published in Glimpses of Grandeur, RISD Museum Exhibition Notes 8 (Fall 1999).

Ottoman Turkish Art
Sep 25, 1987 – Jan 24, 1988

Related Objects

Fahri of Bursa

Papercut from a Poetry Album, ottoman

Fahri of Bursa

Papercut from a poetry album, ottoman

Fahri of Bursa

Papercut from a Poetry Album, ottoman

More objects +

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Fahri of Bursa (Turkish, d. 1617)
Page from a Poetry Album, late 1500s-early 1600s
Gold paper script on blue paper
17.1 x 10.5 cm (6 3/4 x 4 1/8 inches) Overall, mat size: A; Asian Art Department Carpenter Inventory and Cataloging Project 2004-2005; Ove
Anonymous gift 17.490

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Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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