Pen rest

This pen rest or ‘maqta’ is made from carved ivory. An Islamic calligrapher would use a pen rest to hold the pen steady while cutting the nib. The reed pen or the ‘qalam’, which is hollow, needs to be cut and its nib trimmed with a knife before it can be used. The pen rest is thus an integral tool in a calligrapher’s writing kit. While some pen rests may have beautiful motifs in gold, others like this one, is more modest in their decoration.

See related items

Reed pen

Reed pen

Uncut reed pen

Bamboo pen