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Lot Essay
The technique used to complete Qur’an manuscripts in gold kufic, known as chrysography, was lengthy and expensive. It implied writing the letters in ‘liquid glue, filled in with a careful application of ground gold suspended in a solution, and outlined with a pale brown ink using a thin nibbed stylus’ (Spirit & Life, Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Aga Khan Museum Collection, Geneva, 2007, cat.2, p.31). Together with the present Qur’an, the most celebrated example of chrysography is the Blue Qur’an, two folios of which are offered in this sale, lots 18 and lots 19).
This folio comes from a multi-part Qur'an which is known to have been kept in Kairouan and has been attributed to North Africa (Martin Lings and Yasin Safadi, The Qur'an, London, 1976, nos.16-17, p. 26; and several auction catalogues). Tim Stanley on the other hand suggests that a Maghribi origin (which would include Tunisia) is unlikely due to the 'eastern' abjad system used for the verse count (Tim Stanley, The Qur'an and Calligraphy, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, Catalogue 1213, p.18). The debate further complicates when we consider that our folio has horizontal and vertical incised guidelines, which Stanley mentions as a feature belonging to the Muslim West. Stanley mentions that the red dots used for the vocalization of many early kufic Qur'ans are supplemented in this Qur'an with blue dots representing vowels after double consonants and green dots representing vowels after glottal stops (Stanley, op. cit., p.106).
Other folios and sections from the same Qur'an are in both public and private collections including: Tunis, Bibliothèque Nationale, Rutbi 198 (Lings and Safadi, op. cit., p. 26, pl.I-II); Tunis, National Institute of Archaeology and Art (Lings and Safadi, op. cit., nos.18-19, pl.III); Beit al-Qur'an (Beit al-Qur'an, Bahrain, 2000, p.81); The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London (François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, Oxford, 1992, no.19, p.67). Several folios were sold in Christie’s London, 9 October 1990, lot 45; Sotheby's, London, 18 October 2001, lot 4; Christie’s, London, 23 April 2007, lot 3; 4 April 2012, lot 1 and lot 2.
This folio comes from a multi-part Qur'an which is known to have been kept in Kairouan and has been attributed to North Africa (Martin Lings and Yasin Safadi, The Qur'an, London, 1976, nos.16-17, p. 26; and several auction catalogues). Tim Stanley on the other hand suggests that a Maghribi origin (which would include Tunisia) is unlikely due to the 'eastern' abjad system used for the verse count (Tim Stanley, The Qur'an and Calligraphy, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, Catalogue 1213, p.18). The debate further complicates when we consider that our folio has horizontal and vertical incised guidelines, which Stanley mentions as a feature belonging to the Muslim West. Stanley mentions that the red dots used for the vocalization of many early kufic Qur'ans are supplemented in this Qur'an with blue dots representing vowels after double consonants and green dots representing vowels after glottal stops (Stanley, op. cit., p.106).
Other folios and sections from the same Qur'an are in both public and private collections including: Tunis, Bibliothèque Nationale, Rutbi 198 (Lings and Safadi, op. cit., p. 26, pl.I-II); Tunis, National Institute of Archaeology and Art (Lings and Safadi, op. cit., nos.18-19, pl.III); Beit al-Qur'an (Beit al-Qur'an, Bahrain, 2000, p.81); The Nasser D. Khalili Collection, London (François Déroche, The Abbasid Tradition, Oxford, 1992, no.19, p.67). Several folios were sold in Christie’s London, 9 October 1990, lot 45; Sotheby's, London, 18 October 2001, lot 4; Christie’s, London, 23 April 2007, lot 3; 4 April 2012, lot 1 and lot 2.