A LARGE ILLUMINATED QUR’AN, INDIA, MUGHAL, 16TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
October 23, 04:16 PM GTNN
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A LARGE ILLUMINATED QUR’AN, INDIA, MUGHAL, 16TH CENTURY
Arabic manuscript on brown and pink gold-sprinkled paper, 318 leaves plus 4 fly-leaves, 13 lines to the page, the text written in black naskh divided into two sections alternating with 3 lines of gold and blue muhaqqaq, ruled in green, gold, red and blue, verses separated by gold and polychrome rosettes, surah headings in white rounded cursive against a gold ground with polychrome scrolls within cartouches, gold and polychrome round verse markers in the margins, f.1b and 2a with a double-page illuminated frontispiece consisting of a central roundel with white muhaqqaq against a gold ground, f.2b with a polychrome and gold frame, in black leather Indian binding decorated with gilt stamped decoration, with flap
text panel: 23.5 by 16.2cm.
leaf: 37.2 by 25.5cm.
This impressive Qur'an bears all the hallmarks of the most refined manuscripts of the sixteenth century period, and is noteworthy for several reasons, including the lavishness of the illuminations as well as the controlled and balanced hand. Copies of the Qur'an, as well as illustrated manuscripts, formed part of the trade that crossed the Mughal-Safavid border. This large copy, lavishly illuminated, is inspired and influenced by contemporaneous Safavid Qur'ans produced in Persia.
Another contemporaneous Qur’an, also from India, was sold in these rooms, 1 May 2019, lot 20.