SAFAVID SHIRAZ, IRAN, FIRST HALF 16TH CENTURY

The masterful illumination of this Safavid Qur’an bears close resemblance to an example signed by Ruzbihan which recently sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2017, lot 96. The arrangement of a central gold cusped medallion overlaid by a light blue vertical cartouche is identical, as are the small double cloud-bands that fill each of the interstices formed by that overlay. Ruzbihan was a calligrapher and an illuminator and it is unclear whether his signature on the Qur’an sold in April indicated that he both copied and illuminated the Qur’an or whether he only copied it. If he were the illuminator, there would be a strong argument for attributing the illumination here to him. Another Qur’an signed by Ruzbihan and dated AH 952/1545-46 AD, is in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection (David James, After Timur, London, 1992, pp.146-147 and 150-151, no.39). That again has a very similar arrangement of illumination. In his discussion on that Qur’an, David James attributes the illumination to the artist on the basis of the cloud scrolls and the type of blossoms at the end of the arabesque scrolls. Both of these are features shared by our Qur’an again supporting a possible attribution to the master.