Scissors

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Scissors

Turkey, 18th-19th century
Metal
Gilt steel and brass
Length: 9 in. (22.86 cm); Width: 2 in. (5.08 cm)
Purchased with funds provided by Chris and Bill Jameson (M.2000.134)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Even with the advent of mechanical printing in the eighteenth century, calligraphy remained an important art form in the Islamic world, particularly in Ottoman Turkey, as can be seen in the continued ...
Even with the advent of mechanical printing in the eighteenth century, calligraphy remained an important art form in the Islamic world, particularly in Ottoman Turkey, as can be seen in the continued embellishment of calligrapher’s tools. The handles of these scissors form the invocation ya Fattah ("O Opener!"), referencing at once one of the ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God and the function of the scissors themselves.
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Bibliography

  • Lo Terrenal y lo Divino: Arte Islámico siglos VII al XIX Colección del Museo de Arte del Condado de Los Ángeles. Santiago: Centro Cultural La Moneda, 2015.

  • Komaroff, Linda. Beauty and Identity: Islamic Art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2016.