Tughra: Shah Muhammad bin Ibrahim Khan, al-muzaffar daima (Sultan Mehmed, son of Ibrahim Khan, the eternally victorious; Calligraphy (Ottoman Turkish Signature), Single Page Manuscript (1648–87): Art,

Tughra: Shah Muhammad bin Ibrahim Khan, al-muzaffar daima (Sultan Mehmed, son of Ibrahim Khan, the eternally victorious; Calligraphy (Ottoman Turkish Signature), Single Page Manuscript (1648–87) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A tughra is a formalized ornate signature or monogram at the top of a royal edict. This tughra has been cut off from the vertical scroll on which a proclamation of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV was written. Mehmed IV ruled during a time when the empire began to decline in power due to internal rivalries and the catastrophic military defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In bold gold lettering, “Mehmed, son of Ibrahim Khan, the Eternally Victorious” has been calligraphed in Turkish. These words form the structure of the design, which has been filled with colors, floral patterns, and topped with an architectural crown. A foliated sunburst in turquoise, gold, and silver augments the luxury of the monogram.

Object facts

• Title: Tughra: Shah Muhammad bin Ibrahim Khan, al-muzaffar daima (Sultan Mehmed, son of Ibrahim Khan, the eternally victorious; Calligraphy (Ottoman Turkish Signature), Single Page Manuscript
• Date: 1648–87
• Culture: Turkey, Ottoman period, reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, 1648–87)
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 24.5 x 45.6 cm (9 5/8 x 17 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Islamic Art
• Department: Islamic Art
• Accession number: 1944.525

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.