Art of Lettering

Curated from the museum’s reserve collection, the 56 utility artefacts have been categorised into five groups — writing
implements, religion, faith, tradition and trade. The display ranges from costumes to textiles, woodwork, metal instruments, bowls, pen cases, bracelets, amulets, wooden boxes and utensils. Qalamdan is a pen case intricately designed with golden motifs of leaves and flowers and the Nastaliq script of the Persian language — depicting how the calligraphers have made innovations in inscriptions.

The oldest is a 1495 brass shallow bowl with calligraphy inscriptions on its surface, belonging to Sultan Sikander Lodi, that is inscribed with the name of its calligrapher, Mohmood Bin Mahammad Bin Haji Mahmood Farsi. Another brass celestial globe, belonging to the period of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, also has its maker’s name, Mohammad Ibn Illahdad Humayuni Lahori. “Sometimes it increases its value, especially when the name of the patron or calligrapher is inscribed on the object,” says curator Anamika Pathak, pointing out that 20 artefacts in the exhibition have been tagged as being “extremely important”, as they are inscribed with the name of the calligrapher, date of manufacturing or the name of the owner. She adds, “Calligraphy reflects your own personality and helps in knowing the traits of a person. If you have poor handwriting, it means you are fickle-minded. To write beautiful calligraphy, you have to be very calm and peaceful.”