SIGNED ABD AL-LATIF AL-SAYFI UZBEK, MAMLUK EGYPT OR SYRIA, DATED 23 SHAWWAL AH 876 / 3 APRIL 1472 AD

Details

QUR'AN
SIGNED ABD AL-LATIF AL-SAYFI UZBEK, MAMLUK EGYPT OR SYRIA, DATED 23 SHAWWAL AH 876 / 3 APRIL 1472 AD
Arabic manuscript on paper, 282ff. plus two fly-leaves, each folio with 12ll. black naskh, triangular verse markers, the margins plain, with large red notes to mark divisions, sura headings in red thuluth, the opening folio with illuminated calligraphic roundel containing 4ll. black thuluth, the following bifolio with 5ll. black naskh against lightly cross-hatched ground, illuminated calligraphic cartouches above and below with marginal pendants, the final folio with colophon signed and dated, the final folio with illuminated shamsa containing dedication to Sultan Qaytbay, in blind tooled red leather binding, the doublures paper
Folio 14 x 11in. (35.4 x 28cm.)

Provenance

On deposit with the British Library by 25 May 1984 (as per a signed letter from H.J. Goodacre, Acting Head of the Arabic Section of the British Library)
The Shakerine Collection by 2010

Literature

Nabil Safwat, A Collector's Eye, Islamic calligraphy in Qur'ans and other manuscripts, London, 2010, no.49, pp.200-5

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

This complete and impressive Qur'an was produced under the prosperous rule of Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qaytbay (r.1468-96) - a period that saw an artistic revival in the Mamluk empire. Besides indicating his service under the sultan, the nisba al-sayfi of the scribe could also indicate that he belonged to the royal household who ruled Egypt for multiple periods under the Burji Mamluks (1382-1517). The Qur'an bears a dedication to a Sayf al-Din Uzbek, a patron of arts and architecture, who was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mamluk army twice, in Muharram AH 873/July-August 1466 AD and again in AH 902 / 1496-7 AD. He died on 24 Ramadan AH 904 / 5 May 1499 AD (L.A. Mayer, Saracenic Heraldry, Oxford, 1933, pp.244-6).

A monumental royal Mamluk Qur'an written for Sultan Qaytbay was sold in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot. 11.

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