THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
THE SHAKERINE COLLECTION: Calligraphy in Qur’ans and other Manuscripts
AN ILLUMINATED QUR’AN JUZ' (III), EGYPT, MAMLUK, 14TH/15TH CENTURY
Auction Closed
October 23, 11:03 AM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
AN ILLUMINATED QUR’AN JUZ' (III), EGYPT, MAMLUK, 14TH/15TH CENTURY
surah al-Baqarah (II), v.253 to Ali ‘Imran (III), v.91
Arabic manuscript on paper, 32 leaves plus 2 fly-leaves, 7 lines to the page, written in naskh in black ink, verses separated by gold and polychrome rosettes, 1 surah heading in white muhaqqaq against a gold ground within cartouches, fifth and tenth verse marked with gold and blue roundels in the margins, f.1a with a gold and polychrome heading (‘unwan) and waqf inscription, f.1b with an illuminated frontispiece, some leaves missing, including the other half of the frontispiece, f.32a with the last words of v.91 with a gold and polychrome cartouche, in brown stamped and gilt binding decorated with a central rosette and geometrical interlacing patterns, the doublures with traces of interlacing designs
29 by 20.2cm.
N. Safwat, A Collector’s Eye. Islamic calligraphy in Qur’ans and other manuscripts, London 2010, no.47, pp.192-5
The endowment on f.1a gives the name ‘Isa ibn Muhammad b. Aydin and the city of Yathlugh (which is possibly Ayasikugh or Ayasluk).
Another aspect of this juz worth noting is the binding: both covers have ornamentation over their entire surface. A central rosette is encircled by interlacing geometrical designs outlined in gold and filled with dots and hatched lines. The doublures are decorated by dense overlapping foliated circles, the very same pattern that can be found on a binding now in the Oriental Institute of Chicago, inv.no.A12151 (illustrated in Bosch, Carswell and Petherbridge 1981, p.102).