Lot 5
  • 5

Qur'an Section, Illuminated Arabic Manuscript on Vellum, North Africa or Southern Spain, 13th Century

Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 GBP
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Description

text: surat al baqara (ii) 85-87, 97-102 and aal 'umran (iii) 7-194



37 leaves, 9 lines per page in neat maghribi script in brown ink on vellum, vowels and diacritics in red, orange, green and blue, verses separated by gold discs decorated with coloured dots, textual divisions marked in the margins by large gold discs and drop shapes

Catalogue Note

This finely calligraphed Qur'an section in Maghribi script is typical of Qur'an production from the Islamic west.  Compared to the Qur'ans of the east the calligraphers and illuminators of Spain and North Africa remained faithful to the traditional style, with kufic sura headings and vellum used for centuries after paper took precedence in the east. For examples of Maghribi manuscript production refer to James 1980, p109-117.