Golden Maple Leaf - Maysun

I'm very excited to share this little gem. When I say little, I mean it. The overall dimensions (which I'm estimating with my poor memory), were about 3" x 5.5" or so. This was my first piece ever done on real parchment, and it was a scrap that I trimmed down to a rectangular shape. It was an interesting experience as parchment has a bit of a texture to it, which I wasn't necessarily expecting.

This is done in a pseudo-Arabic script, but is actually english. It reads: "Maysun nura al Ishfahani al Samarkandia is hereby made a member of the Order of the Golden Maple Leaf. So say We, Tummur and Saige King and Queen of Artemisia. October 16, AS XLV." (signed Timmur, Saige).

This wasn't based on any one specific piece, but extrapolated from several historical sources (see below) to obtain the correct feel, but more realistic for a fast turn-around and tiny work space.

Princeton University
Christie's
National Library of Medicine (This page in particular)

I found many sources, and found it interesting that the pre-16th Century documents looked the same as the post - the traditional styles have not changed, at least not based on my very preliminary observations. I'd like to check into this further.

The above piece is very rudimentary and simplistic compared to the inspiration pieces, but my hands were a bit tied on the matter. I have, however, done a piece more accurate to the style, though the photograph of it does it no justice. Below is the Award of Arms for Ashlyn. The pseudo-Arabic script used for Ashlyn's is far more fantastical and crazy - Maysun's Maple Leaf is much more realistic.