.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The opening illumination of this Qur'an is very similar to the illumination to a Mughal Qur'an attributed to the 18th Century in the Khalili Collection, (Manijeh Bayani, Anna Contandi and Tim Stanley, The Decorated Word, London, 1999, no. 69, pp. 218-19). Our Qur'an is slightly larger than the Khalili collection example. The script of our Qur'an is particularly elegant, it is written in a flowing elongated muhaqqaq script which contrasts it from the more usual naskh often used in Qur'an manuscripts.
A few of the folios in this Qur'an have very elegant gilt marginal floral decoration. This quality of marginal illumination is usually associated with Qur'ans produced in the royal Mughal kitabkhane. There is a Qur'an in the Khalili collection with similar gilt illuminated margins (op. cit. no. 67, pp. 206-07); a further half Qur'an attributed to the royal Mughal kitabkhane was sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2008, lot 275.
A few of the folios in this Qur'an have very elegant gilt marginal floral decoration. This quality of marginal illumination is usually associated with Qur'ans produced in the royal Mughal kitabkhane. There is a Qur'an in the Khalili collection with similar gilt illuminated margins (op. cit. no. 67, pp. 206-07); a further half Qur'an attributed to the royal Mughal kitabkhane was sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2008, lot 275.