COPIED BY ABU'L BIQA' IBN 'ALI AL-DIMASHQI, MAMLUK EGYPT OR SYRIA, DATED AH 721/1321 AD

Details

QUR'AN
COPIED BY ABU'L BIQA' IBN 'ALI AL-DIMASHQI, MAMLUK EGYPT OR SYRIA, DATED AH 721/1321 AD
Arabic manuscript on thick cream paper, 238ff. plus one fly-leaf, each folio with 15ll. of neat black naskh, margins ruled in red, gold roundel verse markers, sura headings in gold thuluth in panels outlined in red, illuminated juz' and hizb markers in the margins, gold and polychrome illuminated bifolio at the beginning preceded by single carpet page with rectangular panel of geometric illumination, final page with invocation and colophon written in gold thul th, final 16ff. later replacements, areas of waterstaining and rubbing, in 16th century brown morocco with gilt stamped central oval cartouche surrounded by and enclosing floral motifs, flap with inscription blessing this copy of the Qur'an
Folio 6 7/8 x 5in. (17.6 x 12.8cm.); text panel 4½ x 3 3/8in. (11.5 x 8.5cm.)

Provenance

Anon sale, Sotheby's 27 April 1994

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Although the nisba of this scribe, al-Dimashiqi, suggests a Syrian origin for the present manuscript, a number of scribes at the time of production travelled widely within the Mamluk empire as well as beyond. The present manuscript displays features typical of the Cairo style of the early fourteenth century and it is therefore probable that it was completed by a Damascene scribe in Cairo. For a discussion on further Qur'ans of similar style please see David James, Qur'ans of the Mamluks, London, 1988, nos.3-12, pp.34-75.

More from Art of The Islamic And Indian Worlds

View All