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Lot Essay
Folios from this elegant Qur'an have been variously attributed to Damascus and more generally to the Eastern Islamic world. However, the presence on folios from the manuscript of abjad markers using the letter sad for the numerical value of 60 instead of the letter sin confirms that this manuscript was produced in the western Islamic world (Marcus Fraser and Will Kwiatkowski, Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy, Berlin, 2006, p.44).
The script style is closest to what François Déroche describes as group 'C.II' which is typified in this case by the smooth curved 'nun' terminal (François Déroche, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, The Abbasid Tradition, London, 1992, p.153). The form of the final 'nun' with its curved rather than angular form and extended tail can be linked to the later development of the distinctive curved 'nun' shape found in maghribi script.
Other folios from the same Qur'an were sold at Sotheby's, 6 October 2010, lot 1 and Christie's, King Street, 26 April 2012, lot 55, 4 October 2012, lot 59 and 10 October 2013, lot 57; and at Christie's South Kensington, 11 April 2014, lot 233, 10 October 2014, lot 249.
The script style is closest to what François Déroche describes as group 'C.II' which is typified in this case by the smooth curved 'nun' terminal (François Déroche, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, The Abbasid Tradition, London, 1992, p.153). The form of the final 'nun' with its curved rather than angular form and extended tail can be linked to the later development of the distinctive curved 'nun' shape found in maghribi script.
Other folios from the same Qur'an were sold at Sotheby's, 6 October 2010, lot 1 and Christie's, King Street, 26 April 2012, lot 55, 4 October 2012, lot 59 and 10 October 2013, lot 57; and at Christie's South Kensington, 11 April 2014, lot 233, 10 October 2014, lot 249.