- Title
- Scissors
- Date Made
- 18th-19th century
- Period
- Ottoman (1281-1924)
- Medium
- Gilt steel and brass
- Dimensions
- Length: 9 in. (22.86 cm); Width: 2 in. (5.08 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2000.134
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
Because it is through writing that the Qur’an is transmitted, scripts in the Arabic alphabet were devised and perfected to be worthy of divine revelation. On this account, calligraphy became the most important Islamic art form, regardless of the text. Even with the advent of mechanical printing in the eighteenth century, calligraphy retained its significance and value in Islamic lands, particularly in Ottoman Turkey, as evidenced by 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.
2025
