- 16
large Qur`an leaf in muhaqqaq script on pink paper, Egypt, Mamluk, circa 1325-1340
Description
13 lines per page written in bold muhaqqaq script in black ink on pink paper, single verse divisions marked with gold rosettes, fifth verse divisions marked in the margins with illuminated tear-drop devices containing the word ''khamsa'' in Kufic script in gold, tenth verse divisions marked in the margins with illuminated radiating roundels containing the word '' `ashr'' in gold Kufic script, sura heading written in white ornamental Kufic script on an illuminated panel with an illuminated device extending into the margin
Provenance
Formerly in the collection of Philip and Frances Hofer, USA, 1950s. A pencil note in Frances Hofer's hand on the recto reads ''From Koran dated 1327 AD (728 AH). Bot [bought] of Duschene (?) NYC October 1953 for average of 1050 each leaf (4 of them)''
Catalogue Note
This folio comes from a large Mamluk Qur'an related in style and calligraphy to several examples of the 1330s, in particular a manuscript in the National Library, Cairo, dated 1331 (cat.15), another in the National Library, Cairo, dated 1334, one in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, datable to 1332-36, and one in the Iran Bastan Museum, Tehran, dated 1338-9 (see James 1986, cats.15, 17,18, 20). The pencil note in the hand of a former owner indicates that the manuscript from which this folio originates was dated 728/1327. While this cannot be taken as fact simply on the basis of an owner's note, it is plausible and may well be true.
The folio measures 45 by 33.5cm in its present condition, and one can see that it has been trimmed both vertically and horizontally due to the word waqf in the upper margin being partially cut off, and the outer edges of the marginal illumination in the lateral margins being similarly trimmed. Thus it may have measured nearer 50 by 36cm. in original form.
Another folio from the same Qur'an is in the Aga Khan Museum Collection and has recently been exhibited in the exhibition Spirit and Life, Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Aga Khan Museum Collection, Parma and London, March-August 2007. It is illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, no.8.