Hausa Qur'anic & Fortune Teller's Board

Bold script above a boxed pattern of squares and triangles, on a board with one uneven edge.

This Qur'anic and fortune teller's board is Hausa, from West Africa, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is wood & ink. Wooden writing boards are traditionally used in West African Qur'anic schools, where students copy verses in ink and then wash the board clean so that it can be used again. Upright and tall pale board with a small tab at the top and ragged sides. Brown ink script runs in about a dozen lines across the upper part, and a framed geometric panel with a central cross fills the lower part. It is 9.5 inches wide, 0.5 deep and 22.5 high.

Handwriting and architecture on one modest board.