AN ILLUMINATED CALLIGRAPHIC PANEL WITH 'YA ALLAH'
Kashmir, Northern India, mid-20th century

Opaque pigments, ink, and gold on wove paper, the horizontal-format calligraphic panel inscribed with an illuminated invocation to Allah in monumental thuluth script, in-filled with Sura Al-Baqara (2), vv. 255 - 257, in white ink, diacritics and dots in black and red inks, set against a densely illuminated cobalt blue background with rosette sprays, within black and blue rules, and concentric decorative borders with white dots against black and traditional Kashmiri floral trellis and stylised scrollwork, the reverse plain, 34cm x 41.7cm.