early 19th century
Tughra, a stylized calligraphic insignia or signature, comes in different forms. The design shown here—comprising repeated vertical shafts (“flags”), concentric loops (“eggs”), and tails (“daggers”)—is typically identified with Ottoman sultans but was adopted by some Muslim rulers in India. It gives the name ʿAli Jinab Navab Sayyid Mustafa ʿAli Khan Sahib Bahadur and ends with the Arabic phrase “May his prosperity be everlasting” (dama iqbaluhu). The honorific titles indicate that the person was probably a ruler of a princely state during the British India period. The sinuous calligraphic emblem is placed amidst a field of large pink roses to create this flamboyant composition.
26.9 x 35.2 cm (10 9/16 x 13 7/8 in.)
[Oliver Hoare, London, 23 April 1982], sold; to Edwin Binney, 3rd, 1982, bequest; to Harvard University Art Museums, 1985.
Handscroll; ink on paper
ChinesePaint on framed wood panel
19th centuryOttomanSmall sheet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on shikishi paper; Hosshō-ji style
13th centuryJapaneseOne of a pair of hanging scrolls now mounted as the first and second panel of a ten-panel folding screen; ink on paper decorated with designs of auspicious emblems and fruiting and blossoming branches painted in ink and pigments and also with designs of scrolling clouds painted (or printed?) in metallic pigment; with signature of the artist reading "Cha-ha"; with one square, red, relief seal of the artist reading "Cha Ha"
19th centuryKoreanHandscroll; ink on paper decorated with gold and silver sunago, other patterns
17th centuryJapaneseHandscroll; ink, gold and silver pigments on paper
12th-14th centuryJapanese10th of a set of 54 thread-bound books; ink on paper
17th-18th centuryJapaneseInk on paper
13th centuryJapanese30th of a set of 54 thread-bound books; ink on paper
17th-18th centuryJapaneseManuscript book; ink on paper ornamented with silver and gold pigment
17th centuryJapaneseHandscroll; ink on mica-coated paper with silver and gold designs
17th centuryJapaneseHandscroll; ink, gold, and silver on paper with printed floral patterns, signed "Minamoto no Ason Shigeyuki"
18th centuryJapanese