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Lot Essay
Malik bin Anas (711-795 AD) founded one of the four orthodox schools of Islamic law (madhhab) which came to be known as the Maliki rite. He spent his life in Medina studying and preserving the hadith, collated in the present monumental work al-Muwatta'. It is a major work of sunni Islamic law, one of the earliest on the subject and the first to incorporate fiqh and hadith together. It is arranged thematically and reflects the consensus on these themes of important Medinan scholars.
Malikism was introduced into Muslim Spain as early as the end of the second century AH/8th century AD by Andalusian scholars and was adopted as the official madhhab by the Umayyad caliphs. Malik bin Anas's work was therefore particularly popular in Islamic Spain and in north Africa. In north Africa and Spain until the 14th century, manuscripts of Al-Muwatta' and Qur'ans were mostly copied on parchment as a sign of the high esteem that these texts were held in. See for instance a maghribi Al-Muwatta' in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris executed in 1326 (Marie-Genevieve Guesdon, Annie Vernay-Nouri (dir.), L'Art du livre arabe, Du manuscrit au livre d'artiste, Paris, 2000, cat.20, p.43). Our manuscript, copied on high quality paper, is an exception.
The fine and thick crème coloured paper on which this manuscript is executed displays very clear chain lines and a highly polished surface, typical of the high quality paper produced in Muslim Spain. Throughout the manuscript, the scribe's hand is controlled, measured and elegant although working within a particularly tight layout of 43 lines of minute andalusi script. A similar script and layout appear on a manuscript of Sibawayhi's Al-Kitab in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, copied on paper and vellum in 1167 AD, possibly in Sevilla (Guesdon, Vernay-Nouri (dir.), 2001, cat.19, p.42). Our manuscript can also be compared to a Qur'an in the Khalili Collection which was copied in Valence in 1199-1200 (QUR 318, Arts de l'islam, Chefs d'oeuvre de la collection Khalili, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2002, cat.64, pp.70-71).
Other luxurious Andalusian manuscripts, written on Spanish paper similar to ours sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 24 April 2015, lot 254 and lot 258. The latter was a fine section from Al-Muwatta', attributed to 13th century Andalusia which compares to our manuscript. A fine Andalusian manuscript written in similar tight script with larger kufic titles, dated to the 12th/13th century sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 9 October 2015, lot 243.
Malikism was introduced into Muslim Spain as early as the end of the second century AH/8th century AD by Andalusian scholars and was adopted as the official madhhab by the Umayyad caliphs. Malik bin Anas's work was therefore particularly popular in Islamic Spain and in north Africa. In north Africa and Spain until the 14th century, manuscripts of Al-Muwatta' and Qur'ans were mostly copied on parchment as a sign of the high esteem that these texts were held in. See for instance a maghribi Al-Muwatta' in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris executed in 1326 (Marie-Genevieve Guesdon, Annie Vernay-Nouri (dir.), L'Art du livre arabe, Du manuscrit au livre d'artiste, Paris, 2000, cat.20, p.43). Our manuscript, copied on high quality paper, is an exception.
The fine and thick crème coloured paper on which this manuscript is executed displays very clear chain lines and a highly polished surface, typical of the high quality paper produced in Muslim Spain. Throughout the manuscript, the scribe's hand is controlled, measured and elegant although working within a particularly tight layout of 43 lines of minute andalusi script. A similar script and layout appear on a manuscript of Sibawayhi's Al-Kitab in the Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, copied on paper and vellum in 1167 AD, possibly in Sevilla (Guesdon, Vernay-Nouri (dir.), 2001, cat.19, p.42). Our manuscript can also be compared to a Qur'an in the Khalili Collection which was copied in Valence in 1199-1200 (QUR 318, Arts de l'islam, Chefs d'oeuvre de la collection Khalili, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2002, cat.64, pp.70-71).
Other luxurious Andalusian manuscripts, written on Spanish paper similar to ours sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 24 April 2015, lot 254 and lot 258. The latter was a fine section from Al-Muwatta', attributed to 13th century Andalusia which compares to our manuscript. A fine Andalusian manuscript written in similar tight script with larger kufic titles, dated to the 12th/13th century sold at Christie's, South Kensington, 9 October 2015, lot 243.