SIGNED MEHMET SA'DI EF FENDI, OTTOMAN TURKEY, PERIOD OF 'ABD AL-MECID I (R.1839-61)

In the cartouche at the bottom of this hilyeh it states that on the basis of this, the calligraphy instructor (hoca-ı meşk) at the Dar al-Ma’arif, founded by the Valide Sultan (the Sultan's mother), gave license to a certain Mehmet Sadi Effendi. The Dar al-Ma’arif was an institution founded on modern educational principles by Bezmialem Valide Sultan, the mother of Abdülmecid I, in 1850, which was intended to prepare students for the Dar al-Funun (today’s Istanbul University). The hilyeh was written probably before Bezmialem Sultan died in 1853 as there are none of the invocations of blessings that usually follow the name of a deceased person. The name of the calligraphy teacher is not given (M. Hüdai Şentürk, “Därülmaârif”, Islam Ansiklopedisi, vol.8, Ankara 1993, pp. 548-549).