MAMLUK EGYPT, CIRCA 1330

Details

A LARGE QUR'AN FOLIO
MAMLUK EGYPT, CIRCA 1330
Qur'an LXXX, sura 'abasa, v.2 to Qur'an LXXXI, sura al-takwir, v.12, Arabic manuscript on pink paper, the folio with 13ll. of muhaqqaq, gold rosette verse markers, khams marked in the margin with a drop-shaped device, 'ashr marked with an illuminated roundel, one sura heading in white kufic on an illuminated panel issuing a marginal medallion
Folio 17 ¾ x 13in. (45.6 x 33cm.)

Provenance

Philip and Frances Hofer, USA, 1950s
Sotheby's, London, 24 October 2007, lot 16

Engraved

A pencil note on the recto reads: From Koran dated 1327 AD (728 AH). Bot [bought] of Duschene (?) NYC October 1953 for average of 1050 each leaf (4 of them)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

A pencil note on this folio written by a previous owner states that the Qur’an of which it was originally a part was copied in AH 728/1327-28 AD. Although one cannot rely solely on this note for dating as the whereabouts of the colophon of the Qur’an is unknown, stylistically the folio is similar to several Mamluk Qur’ans copied in the 1330s. Two Qur’ans in the National Library in Cairo, one dated AH 731/1331 AD and the other AH 734/1334 AD bear close resemblance to ours (nos.184 and 81 respectively; both published in James, 1982, cats.15 and 17). Both, like ours, are copied in a neat muhaqqaq and have sura headings written in kufic within elegantly illuminated panels. Both have rich gold and polychrome opening and closing carpet pages based on geometric shapes and give an idea of how lavish our Qur’an would once have been (one illustrated in colour in Washington D.C., 1981, pp.34-35, no.3).

A folio from the same Qur’an as ours is in the Aga Khan Collection, exhibited in the Spirit and Life exhibition (London, 2007, p.37, no.8).

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