New Turkish Paperback. 4to. (26 x 22 cm). In English and Turkish. 182 p., color ills. Harmony of line and colour: Illuminated manuscripts documents and calligraphy in the Sadberk Hanim Museum Collection.= Yazida âhenk ve renk: Sadberk Hanim Müzesi Koleksiyonundan sanatli kitaplar, belgeler ve hüsn-i hatlar. [Exhibition catalogue]. April 25 - Aralik 22, 2019. Prep. by Priscilla Mary Isin. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Vehbi Koç Foundation, Sadberk Hanim Museum, which is an affiliated cultural institution of the Foundation, wished to focus public attention on a selection of the museum's magnificent collection of illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy by organizing the exhibition "Harmony of Line and Colour". Curator of the exhibition is Prof. Dr. Zeren Tanindi, who has also prepared the catalogue. Sadberk Hanim Museum's collection of illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy was created as a result of the special interest in this subject felt by Sevgi Gönül, who herself had an outstanding collection of calligraphic panels. Sevgi Gönül served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Museum until her death in 2003 and under her direction the collection was enriched with rare manuscript Korans, prayer books, albums, documents such as imperial edicts, warrants and endowment deeds, hilye-i serif panels and calligraphic wall panels by renowned Ottoman calligraphers. Sevgi Gönül also collected rare examples of Sufi panels. Over time both collections developed and diversified to a noteworthy degree. Sevgi Gönül's personal calligraphy collection was at her own wish transferred to Sadberk Hanim Museum in 2004, following her premature death. Sadberk Hanim Museum's collection of manuscripts and calligraphy totalled 915 works at the start of 2019. Apart from the 157 works belonging to the Sevgi Gönül collection, the museum collection comprises the Hüseyin Kocabas collection, the Pirizade collection, works purchased at auction in Turkey and abroad, and donations. The Hüseyin Kocabas collection of 601 works consists of Korans, copies of the Dela'ilü'l-Hayrat, miscellanies, calligraphers' diplomas and literary works. The Pirizade collection consists of 28 manuscripts, nine of which are Korans. Korans and prayer books that are richly illuminated on every page, albums, documents such as endowment deeds, property deeds, imperial edicts, are invaluable sources of information for Ottoman social and economic history, architecture and art. Examples preserved in Sadberk Hanim Museum are enlightening as regards Ottoman calligraphic style between the late fifteenth and early twentieth centuries, while the signatures on these works increase our knowledge of the master calligraphers, artists and illuminators who created them.
