A SULTANATE COTTON TALISMANIC YOUTH'S JAMA
A SULTANATE COTTON TALISMANIC YOUTH'S JAMA

INDIA, LATE 15TH OR EARLY 16TH CENTURY

Details
A SULTANATE COTTON TALISMANIC YOUTH'S JAMA
INDIA, LATE 15TH OR EARLY 16TH CENTURY
The cotton shirt inscribed with the entire text of the Qur'an written in black ghubari within a lattice of rectangles linked with red, blue and gold concentric roundels, each shoulder with a cluster of similar larger roundels with the words ya Allah, ya Hafiz and ya Fatih in gold, each rectangle with a single verse roundel in gold and polychrome at its centre, sura headings in blue on gold panels, the lattice on either side on the front interrupted by two large roundels containing the shahada in elongated gold bihari on a red and blue ground, the verso with a longer cartouche containing the words nasr min 'allah wa fath qarib on dotted ground, each section of the lattice bordered with a wide band with the 99 names of God written in similar gold bihari in clouds reserved against a band of pink, red and blue dots on hatched ground, small holes and areas of staining
22.5in. (57.2cm.) long; 32 3/8in. (82.2cm.) wide

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Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse
Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse

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Lot Essay

This Sultanate talismanic jama is near-identical but considerably smaller than previously published examples, suggesting that it was made for a youth.

A very similar jama, sold in the 'Princely Collection', Sotheby's, 5 October 2010, lot 42. That was there attributed to the late 14th-15th century, based on a comparison to a Sultanate Qur'an scroll sold at Sotheby's, 15 October 1998, lot 15. The scroll was dated by an edited chronogram which was interpreted as giving the date of AH 798/1395 AD. However, these Qur'an jamas in fact stylistically relate to Qur'ans in bihari script, which were prevalent later in the 15th and early 16th Centuries, a number of which have been published by ©Eloïse Brac de la Perrière (L'art du livre dans l'Inde des sultanats, Paris, 2008 - see for example pl.41). A related Qur'an, also dated to the 15th century was sold in these Rooms, 1 May 2001, lot 17. It is possible that the reading of the chronogram on the scroll was inaccurate. Another, very similar Qur'an jama sold in these Rooms, 7 April 2011, lot 251.

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