Şerife Fatma "Mevhibe" Hanım

Şerife Fatma "Mevhibe" Hanım was a 19th century female Ottoman calligrapher and poet.

Life and career

During the Ottoman period, calligraphy was largely a male-dominated profession. However, a small group of female artists, including Esmâ Ibret Hanim and Şerife Fatma "Mevhibe" Hanım made valuable contributions to Turkish art and culture.[1]

Very few details about Fatma "Mevhibe" Hanım are known with certainty. She was the daughter of Seyyid Mehmed Hasib Pasha (d. 1870), an Ottoman statesman, who had served as the Minister of the Treasury.[2] The title, “Şerife” (meaning honourable), reflects her ancestry which her family claimed to descend from one of the Prophet's brothers. She assumed the nickname "Mevhibe", meaning “generous gift” after she became a practicing poet and calligrapher.

She received a good early education and later studied calligraphy with Hakkâkzâde Mustafa Hilmi Efendi (d. 1268/1852) and Vasfi Efendi (d.?.). After she had learned both the thuluth and naskhi scripts, she received her idjazat (diploma).[3]

She died at a young age, but her precise date of death is unknown.[4]

Work

A major problem cataloguing the work of female calligraphers has been the absence of signed works. Female artists were encouraged to demonstrate humility and discouraged from signing their work. However, recent scholarship has positively identified many works by important female calligraphers and poets.[5]

Known works by Fatma Hanim include:

  • Hilye-i Şerifi, also known as Bint-i Hüdâverdi, registered in TSMK 888 inventory, Cairo [6]
  • Two sulus and neish inscriptions in the Topkapi Museum, dated to around 1850 (1266H) [7]

See also

List of female calligraphers

References
  1. Emel Doğramacı Status of Women in Turkey Meteksan, 1984, p. 168: Dervisevic, H., 18th Century Qur’an Transcribed by a Woman, Islamic Arts Magazine, Jun 01, 2017 http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/18th_century_quran_transcribed_by_a_woman/
  2. Rado, S., Türk hattatları: XV. yüzyıldan günümüze kadar gelmiş ünlü hattatların hayatları ve yazılarından örnekler, Yayın Matbaacılık Ticaret, 1985, p. 212
  3. Taşkale, F. and Gündüz, H., Hat sanatında hilye-i şerife: Hz. Muhammed'in özellikleri [Hilye-i Şerife in calligraphy: Hz. Muhammad's features],Antik A.Ş. Kültür yayınları, 2006, p. 85 and p. 273 (translated from Turkish); “Serife Fatma Mevhibe Hanim” in: Islamic Arts Portal, https://www.ketebe.org/sanatkar/serife-fatma-mevhibe-hanim-922
  4. “Serife Fatma Mevhibe Hanim” in: Islamic Arts Portal, https://www.ketebe.org/sanatkar/serife-fatma-mevhibe-hanim-922
  5. Dervisevic, D., "18th Century Manuscript Transcribed by a Woman," Islamic Arts, 1 June, 2017 [published in association with the Promotion of the Ottoman Cultural Heritage of Bosnia and Turkey project, Monolit, Association for Promoting Islamic Arts and the Republic of Turkey, Online: http://islamicartsmagazine.com/magazine/view/18th_century_quran_transcribed_by_a_woman
  6. Kazan, H., “İSLÂM HAT SANATINDA TEMAYÜZ ETMİŞ KADIN HATTATLAR”, DinveHayat, October, 2011, pp 64-65 (translated from Turkish),http://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D03292/2011/2011_14/2011_14_KAZANH.pdf
  7. Pickthall, M.W. and Asad, M., Islamic Culture, Volume 57, Islamic Culture Board, 1983, p. 23: Encyclopedia of Islamic Calligraphers Online: http://hattatlarimiz.blogspot.com/2015/12/hattat-fatma-mevhibe-hanm.html

Further reading
  • Hilal Kazan, Dünden bugüne hanım hattatlar [Female Calligraphers Past and Present], İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, 2010
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