Folio from Kitab fi ma'arifat al-hiyal al-handisaya (The book of knowledge of ingenious mechanical devices) Automata by al-Jazari (d. 1206); recto: text, Water-powered clocks; verso: The face of a water clock with Zodiac signs

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Farruq ibn Abd al-Latif

• Description

  Detached folio from a dispersed copy of the Kitab fi ma'arifat al-hiyal al-handisaya (The book of knowledge of ingenious mechanical devices), "Automata," by al-Jazari; text: Arabic in black and red naskh script; recto: text, Water-powered clocks, one column, 12 lines; verso: illustration and text, The face of a water clock with zodiac signs, one column, 6 lines; one of a group of 8 folios.

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Provenance

  To 1930

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962), New York to 1930 [1]

  From 1930

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Hagop Kevorkian, New York in 1930 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Object file, undated folder sheet note. See also Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List file, Collections Management Office.

  [2] See note 1.

• Origin

  Probably Syria

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1300s

• Name

  Farruq ibn Abd al-Latif, Kevorkian, Hagop

• Topic

  Aries (Astrology), Capricorn, Art, Mamluk period (1250 - 1517), Zodiac, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Virgo, Taurus, Aquarius, Diseases, Libra, Fishes, Automata, Leo, Arts of the Islamic World, Gemini

• Culture

  Muslims, Syrians

• Object Type

  Manuscripts