This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

Tughra (official signature) of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66)

Location:

New York, United States of America

Holding Museum:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

About The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Date of Object:

Hegira c. 962–67 / AD c. 1555–60

Museum Inventory Number:

38.149.1

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper

Dimensions:

H: 52.1cm, W: 64.5cm; Mat: L: 63.5cm, W: 76.2cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Provenance:

Istanbul, Turkey

Description:

Ottoman tughras are calligraphic emblems of the sultan's authority and were included in all official documents, including firmans (royal decrees), endowment papers, correspondence, and coins. Used by the first Ottoman sultan in 1324, they later developed into a more complex form that was not easily read or copied. This example served as the monogram of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66). Its stylised form is an intricate calligraphic composition comprising the name and titles of the sultan, his father's name, and the phrase “the eternally victorious”. Its bold, gestural line contrasts with the delicate, swirling vine scroll illumination as ornamentation. This tughra served as the heading for a long, narrow document in scroll form, the first line of which is preserved in golden script at the bottom of the page.

How Object was obtained:

Rogers Fund, 1938

Vendor: E. Beghian, London

Former owner [dealer]: [E. Beghian, London, until 1938; sold to MMA]

Selected bibliography:

Atil, Esin, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Washington DC: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987: 41–42, no. 4, ill. pl. 4 (colour).
Bowie, Theodore Robert, Islamic Art Across the World. An Exhibition Prepared by Theodore Bowie. Vol. No. 1970/3, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Art Museum, 1970: no. 26.
Burn, Barbara (ed), Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/Boston: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993: 83, ill. (colour).
Campbell, Thomas P. (ed), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012: 139, ill. (colour).
Dimand, Maurice S., A Handbook of Muhammadan Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944.: 78, ill. fig. 45 (b/w).
Dimand, Maurice S., "Turkish Art of the Muhammadan Period", Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, 2 (1944): 211, ill. (b/w).
Ekhtiar, Maryam, Canby, Shelia R., Haidar, Navina and Soucek, Priscilla P. (eds), Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011: 16, 286, 294–95, no. 205, ill. 295 (colour).
Ekhtiar, Maryam and Moore, Claire (ed), Art of the Islamic World. A Resource for Educators, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012: 128–29, ill. fig. 23 (colour).
Ekhtiar, Maryam, How to Read Islamic Calligraphy, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018: 48–49, no. 8.
de Montebello, Philippe and Howard, Kathleen (ed), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992: 325, ill. fig. 33 (colour).
Schimmel, Annemarie, "Islamic Calligraphy", Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, 50/1 (Summer 1992): 52–53, ill. fig. 63 (colour).
Welch, Stuart Cary, The Islamic World. Vol. 11, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987: 114–16, ill. fig. 85 (colour).

Additional Copyright Information:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1938

Citation of this web page:

 "Tughra (official signature) of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r. 1520–66)" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus23;21;en

MWNF Working Number: US3 21