سیاه‌مشق

Siyah Mashq

Qajar era Siyah Mashq Calligraphy based on Nasta'liq script 19th cent. Shekastah (Broken) Script. A number of other siyah mashq sheets are held in the Library of Congress. See in particular 1-84-154.44, 1-87-154.45, 1-84-154.46, 1-85-154.88, 1-87-154.142. A number of siyah mashq sheets executed at the turn of the 17th century by the great Iranian master of nasta'liq script, 'Imad al-Hasani (d. 1024/1615), were decorated in gold, preserved in albums (muraqqa'at), and provided with illumination by Muhammad Hadi ca. 1160-1172/1747-1759 (Akimushkin 1996: 65, 87, and 91). These sheets bear a striking resemblance to this fragment, especially in the interlacing gold flower and leaf motif used on the sheet's blue border (Akimushkin 1996: 70). It is possible that the Library of Congress' siyah mashq sheet was executed by 'Imad al-Hasani or one of his contemporaries or followers. As an established genre, practice sheets abided to certain rules of formal compositions, largely guided by rhythm and repetition (Safwat 1996, 32). Although siyah mashq sheets survive from ca. 1600, they seem to have been a particularly popular genre during the second half of the 19th century, i.e., during the artistic revival spearheaded by the Qajar ruler Nasir al-Din Shah, who reigned 1848-1896 (Mehdi Zadeh 1369/1950: 44-45 and 54-55; and Diba and Ekhtiar 1998: 239-41). Dimensions of Written Surface: 29.1 (h) x 16.6 (w) cm These sheets -- known as siyah mashq (lit. black practice) in Persian -- were entirely covered with writing as a means to practice calligraphy and conserve paper. In time, they became collectible items and thus were signed and dated (this fragment, however, does not appear signed or dated). Many fragments such as this one were provided with a variety of decorative borders and pasted to sheets ornamented with plants or flowers painted in gold. Even the calligraphic exercise itself appears on a background of painted clouds decorated with illuminated flowers. This calligraphic practice sheet includes a number of diagonal words and letters used in combinations facing upwards and downwards on the folio. The common Persian cursive script nasta'liq is favored here over the more "broken" shikastah script. Script: nasta'liq 1-86-154.144

Provided by the Library of Congress