FIVE POLYCHROME-ENAMELLED CALLIGRAPHIC BUTTON FITTINGS
Ottoman Turkey, late 19th century

Comprising five small enamelled button fittings, each one on a dark or light blue ground with the names of Allah, Mohammad, Abu Bakr and Hasan (x2) in yellow and heightened in gold, the back enamelled in a tinge of plain greyish white, each approx. 1cm in diam.

The calligraphic style, overall design and shape of these button fittings is reminiscent of the much larger 19th-century Ottoman gilt wooden roundels with the names of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, Mohammad and Allah, replicating the calligraphic medallions designed by the 19th-century calligrapher Mustafa 'Izzet for Ayasofya's squinches, and so typical in Ottoman religious architecture. Four examples of such wooden medallions on a blue ground can be seen in the Khalili Collections (inv. no. MXD 265).