QUR'AN

SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, CIRCA 1580 WITH ADDITIONS DONE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY, 17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details

QUR'AN
SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, CIRCA 1580 WITH ADDITIONS DONE IN OTTOMAN TURKEY, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
Arabic manuscript on gold-sprinkled paper, 292ff. as numbered, three fly-leaves, folios with 13ll. of text comprising large lines of blue and gold thuluth alternated with blocks of 5ll. of smaller naskh framed by panels of floral illumination, sura headings in white on gold and polychrome illuminated panels, marginal roundels marking various points in the text, occasional later added Ottoman marginal devices, opening bifolium with elegant illumination framing medallions with gold text on light blue ground, previous bifolium with two similarly illuminated shamsas, final folio of the Qur'an followed by two fully illuminated bifolium of prayers and a falnama, one folio replaced, folios slightly trimmed, in Ottoman binding and modern brown morocco box

Text panel 9 x 6in. (22.8 x 15.2cm.); folio 13¼ x 8½in. (33.5 x 21.8cm.)

Sale room notice

Please note that this lot should not be marked with a star symbol in the printed catalogue, and as such no VAT is payable for this lot.

Please note that the Gulf Cooperation Council has imposed a ban on the importation of Iranian goods to or via its member states. Some of the member states are enforcing the ban strictly such as Saudi Arabia. Please check with your shippers on whether you will be able to ship Iranian artworks to the GCC member states.

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Lot Essay

This fine and lavishly illuminated Qur’an was very probably executed in Shiraz in the 1570s or 1580s. Three Qur’ans in the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum in Istanbul offer very close comparables. All have high quality and exuberant illumination indicating princely commissions. All of these Qur'ans are attributed to Shiraz between 1570 and 1580, the opening carpet-page with its unusual lavender-blue medallions, the layout of the pages and style of scripts as well as the final falnama prayers are echoed in cat.82 (dated 1580-81), cat.81 (dated 1576-77) and cat.85 (dated circa 1580) (respectivly, 1400. Yilinda Kur’an-I Kerim, exhibition catalogue, Istanbul, 2012, cat.82, pp.324-327, cat.81, pp.322-323, cat.85, pp.332-333). The added marginal markers on our manuscript are Ottoman Turkish and can be dated to the 18th century – an illustration that this important manuscript was highly prized by its owner and embellished more than a century after its production in southern Iran.

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