Lot 16
AN OTTOMAN CALLIGRAPHY SIGNED BY SUYOLCUZADE MUSTAFA EYYUBI, MASTER OF HAFIZ OSMAN
TURKEY, ISTANBUL, DATED, AH 1072/ AD 1661
Auction: 10 June 2026 from 14:00 BST
Description
black ink on paper, comprising a central rectangular panel with 7 lines in elegant naskh script with gold florette verse separators, the larger script above and below in thuluth, gold and black margin rules, red mount, reverse with marbled effect
Dimensions
22.4cm x 16cm
Footnote
Written in thuluth and naskh scripts, this is a rare example composed by Suyolcuzade Mustafa Eyyubi Efendi, the calligraphy teacher of the infamous Hafiz Osman Efendi (d. 1698). The calligrapher was born in the Eyub district of Istanbul. His father’s name was Ömer. He studied calligraphy under the supervision of the famous Dervish Ali the Elder (d. 1673). He was celebrated for his mastery in the six pens (al-aqlam al-sitta), particularly in thuluth and naskh.
Mustafa Eyyubi owed most of his fame to being the calligraphy teacher of the court calligrapher Hafiz Osman Efendi (d. 1689) who taught calligraphy to Sultan Mustafa II (r. 1695-1703) and Sultan Ahmed III (r. 1703-1730). In addition, Eyyubi was the grandfather of the Ottoman historian Suyolcuzade Mehmed Necib Efendi (d. 1757), the author of calligraphers’ biographies Devhat al-Kuttab. He died in 1685, in Istanbul.