COPIED BY AHMAD AL-NAYRIZI OR A CLOSE FOLLOWER, SAVAFID IRAN, DATED AH 1120/1708-9 AD

Details

PRAYER BOOK
COPIED BY AHMAD AL-NAYRIZI OR A CLOSE FOLLOWER, SAVAFID IRAN, DATED AH 1120/1708-9 AD
Prayers and benedictions, Arabic manuscript on smooth cream paper 15ff. with 9ll. of elegant black naskh in clouds on gold ground, headings in gold thuluth, gold quatrefoil markers at the end of each verse, text outlined in gold, red and light blue rules with two gold decorated borders, opening folio with illuminated headpiece and gold and polychrome arabesque in margins, very fine red leather binding from a Qur'an, tooled and with inlaid leather decorative panels in black and white, and inlaid riqa' inscriptions in green on white and gold on green, binding slightly rubbed
Folio 10¼ x 6½in. (26 x 16.5cm.)

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Lot Essay

The change in style of naskh script in late Safavid Iran owed much to the calligrapher Ahmad al-Nayrizi, who was active between 1682 and 1739. His main output was Qur'ans, prayerbooks and calligraphic leaves, written in his distinctive variant naskh, deemed suitable for religious works in the Arabic language. He became a template used by Qajar scribes, who would sometimes copy entire books by his hand including the colophon. This makes their work difficult to distinguish from his.

The present manuscript is complete and in its original form, written in an excellent clear hand. The illumination is appropriate to the early 18th century.

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