Written in Turkish, this elegant folio in nasta'liq is from a copy of the collected works of the last Timurid ruler, Sultan Husayn Bayqara. It is executed in a complicated technique known as qata'i (decoupage). Instead of writing in ink, individual letters are cut out of different colored paper and pasted on a contrasting background. The art of decoupage, which originated in late fifteenth-century Herat, required tremendous skill, dexterity, and imagination.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Engaging the Senses (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy (September 13, 2014 to May 3, 2015)
Arts of the Islamic World (May 3, 1998 to January 3, 2016)
Nastaliq Calligraphy (September 23, 1982 to January 20, 1984)
Untitled Exhibition, South Asian and Persian Art (March 24, 1930 to March 14, 1931)
