An Ottoman Shamshir for Comment

[Philip]

Jim,
Your comments on the blade and its decor are most interesting, thank you for your contribution.

I looked through my references on Islamic calligraphy, and have determined that the style of penmanship on the etched inscription of this kilij is not thuluth, as you describe, but rather appears to be a variant of the common naskhi hand. Naskhi, described by Anthony Welch in CALLIGRAPHY IN THE ARTS OF THE MUSLIM WORLD (Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 1979) as "a legible and stately script that long remained in favor for its straightforwardness, adherance to the horizontal, and simple virtuosities" (p 31), examples illus. on pp 93, 121,123.

Thuluth is more ponderous and monumental, and the vertical strokes are accentuated (Welch, ibid., examples illus. on pp 95, 101) and are often compressed, which de-emphasizes the horizontal element.

The Persians favored ta'liq, which has a very strong upper right to lower left diagonal orientation of the strokes (Welch, example illus. p 163), and a combination called nasta'liq which has elements of naskhi but still with the diagonal emphasis (Welch, example p 67).

Comparative examples of these and many other penmanship styles can be found in Celal Esad Arseven, LES ARTS DECORATIFS TURCS (Istanbul: Milli Egitim Basinevi, no date).