Özet:

The subject of this article is Ali Vasfi Efendi’s life and his calligraphy works. Ali Vasfi Efendi was a calligrapher who lived in the 19th century. Considering his works, the father of the mentioned calligrapher was Seyyid Hafız Ahmed Efendi. Ali Vasfi Efendi used the pseudonym “İzmidî” after his name in his works, which suggests that he was from Izmit. According to a sample plate with thuluth-Naskh writings, Ali Vasfi Efendi gave ijazah to his student Seyyid Mustafa Nuri Efendi, who imitated his teacher. Today, within the scope of the studies on Ali Vasfi Efendi’s plates and works, we identified thuluth-Naskh writing and a celi ta’lik plate in the form of a kıt’a (stanza). The fluency and consistency of the letters are important in the Basmele-i sharif in the form of a stanza. In his work, he created calligraphy in the rococo style. We found architectural works and tombstones on which the inscriptions were signed by Ali Vasfi Efendi in Kocaeli central district, Kandıra, and Gölcük districts. Among the mentioned architectural works, the inscriptions in a horizontal rectangular panel on the front side of the fountains and mosques were engraved on the stone. An inscription was on the front side of the rectangular prism-shaped part of two tombstones. Apart from celi ta’lik and nesih styles, our calligrapher preferred mostly celî thuluth style in his works. The stone inscriptions were carved from the ground and embossed. The calligrapher Ali Vasfi Efendi had his own style characterized by a closer stack of letters on the marble inscriptions than on the cartridges. He also created calligraphic plates using dark black ink on the hardened paper (glossy paper). Ali Vasfi Efendi put his signature by writing his name in a line after all his calligraphy works. His signature on the tombstone in the Hüseyin Pasha Mosque graveyard was written in mâil style. However, he only used his name “Ali Vasfi” in his signature on the tombstones instead of his pseudonym “İzmidî.” Ali Vasfi Efendi wrote “Gafera’llâhu lehumâ “ (May Allah forgive them) statement in “ İzmidî-Gufira lehû “ and celî ta’lik styles after his name on the fountain in Örcün village. The date inscriptions in the İzmit Kandıra Sultan Orhan Mosque were written in abjad numerals. Although some license plates with his signature were not included in the literature, suggesting his local fame, it can be argued that he was a respected and popular calligrapher in the region. It is possible to say that Ali Vasfi Efendi initially followed the traditional writing style, but he developed his style over time. In this study, we examined the surviving inscriptions and plates on-site and took photographs and measurements. The tomb of the calligrapher Ali Vasfi Efendi is in the Namazgah Martyrdom in Bağçeşme, located in the central district of Izmit. The primary purpose of our study is to examine the unknown works of the calligrapher Ali Vasfi Efendi, who created several works on a local level, and to contribute to the literature on Turkish Art History.