Ottoman Pen Case with Inkwell

This portable pen case (called a divit) is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (NYC) collection of Ottoman art. This divit, has an inkwell on the exterior, at one end of the tubular arm that holds the pens. This example is characteristically Ottoman in its silver body and gold overlay with a tughra stamp of the imperial mint. The piece shown bears the tughra of Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II (reigned 1808 – 1839).

In this 21^st Century, we’re familiar with “logos” – a unified visual identity intended to make a company or product recognizable at first glance. Though logos may seem to be a modern invention related to companies or institutions, this type of branding has been present in the Islamic world for hundreds of years.

Perhaps the best historical examples of this kind of graphic symbol are the tughras (imperial signatures, or calligraphic insignias) used by Ottoman officials on documents, coins, and other objects, as well as to mark buildings. The word tughra comes from an Oghuz (a historical Turkish language) term for “seal.”

According to legend, the Ottoman form of the tughra originated with an illiterate sultan, who, unable to sign his name, dipped his three fingers in ink and impressed them on a page. While this account is probably not true, three lines can easily be seen in the refined form that later came to be fixed during the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481), and which remained virtually unchanged for centuries.

All Ottoman tughras include three vertical shafts and two concentric oval loops at left. These undulating forms are calligraphic insignias that include the name of the reigning sultan, the name of his father, and the phrase “the eternally victorious.” While tughras of various sultans may look the same to us, variations in names necessitated small changes to the design. All sultans, as well as princes, would have their own tughra, which court artists created anew with each ruler’s succession.

It is extremely difficult to read the specific calligraphy in tughras, but these forms were simply meant to be recognized, rather than read completely. It was more difficult still to recreate these ornate, complex signatures produced by specialized court artists and illuminators. Tughras appear on official documents and objects of all types—including this inkwell.

The tughra finally fell out of use in the early 20th century, at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, for nearly one thousand years this “branding” was immediately recognizable, even to those who were illiterate, and served as the same kind of visual identity as modern-day logos.