A prayer book made for the court of Esma Sultan, signed Isma'il bin Salih, Ottoman Turkey, dated 30 May 1778

A PRAYER BOOK MADE FOR THE COURT OF ESMA SULTAN
SIGNED ISMA'IL BIN SALIH, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED 3 JUMADA AL-AWWAL AH 1192/30 MAY 1778 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, 255ff., plus four flyleaves, 11ll. of black naskh, gold and polychrome verse markers, headings in white on gold and polychrome illuminated panels, within gold and polychrome rules, catchwords, marginal notes in red and black, the opening bifolio with gold and polychrome illuminated headpiece surmounting text in clouds reserved against a gold ground, two further folios with gold and polychrome illuminated headpieces within the text, three full page illustrations including Mecca and Medina, 34 pages with illuminated hilyes and diagrams, colophon signed and dated AH 1192, three further folios dated AH 1184 and 1194, fly leaves with later owners' notes, in dark brown morocco with flap, overall good condition
Text panel 5 3⁄4 x 3in. (14.4 x 7.4cm.); folio 7 5⁄8 x 4in. (19.4 x 10.2cm.)
This manuscript was produced for the court of Ottoman princess Esma Sultan 'The Elder' (1726-88), daughter of Sultan Ahmed III. An illuminated folio within this manuscript states that Hafiz Mahmud, the imam in the palace of Esma Sultan, licensed Usta bint ‘Abdullah, a lady in the service of Esma Sultan, in the work’s mysteries, in other words licensed her to instruct others in the contents. One can therefore assume that this richly illuminated prayer book was produced on her behalf. An impression of Hafiz Mahmud’s seal appears at the bottom of the page along with the seal impression of another lady called Nur al-Sitr.
Along with the numerous illuminated folios and hilyehs, the manuscript incorporates charming details in the illumination including one folio in which the verse markers are roundels with miniaturised depictions of Mecca and Medina. This unusual feature is found on the opening illumination of a contemporaneous Ottoman Qur'an in the Khalili Collection (inv.QUR 1240). The production of this manuscript must have been a lengthy and costly process given that it incorporates four dated folios from AH 1184-1192/1770 - 1778 AD.
An inscription in blue ink at the end of the manuscript indicates that it was a present from Nur al-Sitr’s chamberlain (kapuci bashi) Haji Hasan Agha to Hafiz Ahmed Efendi and then to a certain ‘Abd al-Wahhab (Abdülvehhab) Efendi, dated 4th Rabi al-Awwal (12)98 /4 February 1881, a hundred years after its completion.

For a richly illuminated prayer book created in the late nineteenth century for the seventeenth wife of Sultan Abdulmecid I (r.1839-61), see Christie's, London, 24 October 2019, lot 158.