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Sultan Ahmed III (R.1703‐1730) As a Calligrapher and Patron of Calligraphy

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Sultan Ahmed III (R.1703‐1730) As a Calligrapher and Patron of Calligraphy Keskiner, Philippe Bora (2012) Sultan Ahmed III (r.1703‐1730) as a calligrapher and patron of calligraphy. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/15860 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. SULTAN AHMED III (r.1703-1730) AS A CALLIGRAPHER AND PATRON OF CALLIGRAPHY Philippe Bora Keskiner Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in History of Art and Archaeology 2012 Department of the History of Art and Archaeology School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1 Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date:11/02/2013 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 6 ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... 7 KEY OTTOMAN CALLIGRAPHER-SULTANS MENTIONED IN THE TEXT AND THEIR REIGNAL YEARS ................................................................................ 9 CONVENTIONS ....................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... 31 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 33 Overview ................................................................................................................ 33 Sources ................................................................................................................... 35 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER ONE: ....................................................................................................... 46 The Reign of Ahmed III and Visual Arts of the Period: ............................................ 46 An Outline .................................................................................................................. 46 I.1 A Portrait of Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736) .................................................... 47 I.2 Introduction to the Reign of Ahmed III (1703-1730) ....................................... 55 I.2.1 A Short Outline of the Political and Economic Situation .......................... 55 I.2.2 Culture ....................................................................................................... 59 I.2.3 Patronage of Arts and Architecture ........................................................... 66 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................... 78 The Calligrapher Sultan and his Court of Calligraphers ............................................ 78 II.1. Patrons of Calligraphy in Early Eighteenth-Century İstanbul ........................ 79 II.2.The Calligrapher Sultan and the Sultan of Calligraphers: Sultan Ahmed III and Hāfız Osman Efendi (D.1698)......................................................................... 90 II.3 The Calligraphy Circle of Ahmed III .............................................................. 97 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................. 104 2 Sultan Ahmed III’s Calligraphic Panels, Monumental Inscriptions, and Works Applied on Tiles ....................................................................................................... 104 III.1. Ahmed III’s Calligraphic Panels ................................................................. 105 III.1.1. The Panel Format (Levha) .................................................................... 105 III.1.2. The Sultan’s Panels .............................................................................. 110 III.1.3. Text ...................................................................................................... 112 III.1.4. Originals in Ink and their Reproductions of Overlaid Gold ................. 120 III.1.5. Location of Panels ................................................................................ 123 III.1.6. Design and Sources of Inspiration ....................................................... 142 III.2. Sultan Ahmed III’s Monumental Inscriptions............................................. 162 III.2.1. Monumental Inscriptions in the Topkapı Palace .................................. 163 III.2.2. The Chronogram for the Derviş-Lodge of the Dırağman Mosque ...... 172 III.2.3. Monumental Inscriptions on Public Fountains .................................... 174 III.3. Calligraphic Works Applied on Tiles ......................................................... 178 III.3.1. The Hadith-tughra Tiles ...................................................................... 178 III.3.2. The Jalī Thuluth ‘Fatabārak Allāhu Aḥ san al-Khāliqīn’ Tiles .......... 183 III.3.3. The Jalī Thuluth Righteous Caliphs Tiles ............................................ 183 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................... 191 Sultan Ahmed III’s Qur’an Manuscripts and Calligraphic Albums ........................ 191 IV.1. Qur’an Manuscripts .................................................................................... 192 IV.2. Calligraphic Albums ................................................................................... 193 IV.2.1. The Muhaqqaq - Thuluth Album ......................................................... 198 IV.2.2 The Imperial Tughra Album (TSMK A.3653) ..................................... 206 IV.2.3 Individual Album Leaves ...................................................................... 219 CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................................................................... 222 Re-employing the Royal Monogram: The Introduction of the Tughra as a Calligraphic Format ................................................................................................. 222 V.1 A Short Introduction to the History of the Ottoman Tughra ........................ 223 3 V.2-The Evolution of the Tughra under Ahmed III: ........................................... 230 V.3 The Invention of Tughra-shaped Composition ............................................. 232 V.3.1 The Tughra of Ahmed III: Structure and Influence ............................... 234 V.3.2 Tughra-shaped Compositions of Ahmed III .......................................... 239 V.4 The Hadith-tughra and Its Application on Tiles ....................................... 240 V.5 Literary Evidence: Poems in Praise of the Tughras of Ahmed III ............ 244 V.6 The Waqf-tughra of the Library of Ahmed III .......................................... 246 CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................................................ 248 Completing the New Image of the Calligrapher-Sultan: Ahmed III’s Innovative Signatures ................................................................................................................. 248 VI.1 A Short Introduction to Signatures in Islamic Calligraphy ......................... 249 VI.2.Innovative Signatures of Sultan Ahmed III: ................................................ 252 VI.2.1.The Pear-shaped Signatures .................................................................. 257 VI.2.2. ‘Tughra-shaped Signatures’ of Ahmed III:.......................................... 262 VI.2.3. ‘Couplet’ Signatures of Ahmed III ...................................................... 267 VI.2.4. Literary Evidence: Poems in Praise of the Couplet-Signatures of Ahmed III ...................................................................................................................... 274 VI.3. Signaturesin Three Different Languages: Tughras in Arabic, Persian and Turkish ................................................................................................................. 275 VI.3.1. Signatures in Arabic: ‘Katabahu’ and ‘Namaqahu’: ........................... 275 VI.3.2. Singatures in Persian: ‘Eser-i Hāme-i’ ................................................ 276 VI.3.3. Signatures in Turkish: Couplets ..........................................................
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