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Lot Essay
The attribution of these striking pink folios to Spain is based primarily on the use of paper. In North Africa, parchment remained the preferred material for the writing of Qur'ans into the 19th century. Spain, however, had been manufacturing and using high quality paper for manuscripts of all kinds for some time. Manuscripts like this one, on pink dyed paper are believed to have been produced in Jativa, near Valencia, the site of the earliest documented paper mill in Spain (Marcus Fraser and William Kwiatkowski, Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy, Berlin-London, 2006, p.64).
The manuscript is notable for the luxuriant use of pink paper, and for the free but elegant manner in which the script is copied, with the terminals of the letters sweeping over the page, in contrast to the very precise way in which the vocalisation and illumination is handled.
Other folios from this remarkable Qur'an are in public and private collections. Some have appeared at auction in the recent past, and for a list of some of these and another folio offered in this sale please see lot 82. This group of consecutive pages however presents a rare opportunity to acquire a continuous section of this exquisite manuscript.
The manuscript is notable for the luxuriant use of pink paper, and for the free but elegant manner in which the script is copied, with the terminals of the letters sweeping over the page, in contrast to the very precise way in which the vocalisation and illumination is handled.
Other folios from this remarkable Qur'an are in public and private collections. Some have appeared at auction in the recent past, and for a list of some of these and another folio offered in this sale please see lot 82. This group of consecutive pages however presents a rare opportunity to acquire a continuous section of this exquisite manuscript.