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Lot Essay
Qur'an II, sura al-baqara, v.255 (ayat al-kursi)
The Throne Verse is one of the most widely known Qur’anic verses, used in architecture and art of many mediums for its talismanic connotations. Khoury notes two primary reasons for the significance of the verse: the first, is that God’s Throne is the organizing principle of the universe and the point around which believers’ souls will be gathered at the Day of Resurrection, the second relates to the importance of the intercession of the Prophet on the Day of Judgment (Nuha N. N. Khoury, “The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture”, Muqarnas 9, 1992, pp.11-29, p.18. While also found on secular items, given the religious significance of the verse, it was favoured in calligraphic decoration of cenotaphs, tombs and mosques.
While the exact use of this panel remains unknown, the arrangement of the thuluth calligraphy is comparable to a 16th century textile in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul (inv.no 12⁄1632, see (Nurhan Atasoy, Julia Raby, and Louise Mackie et al., IPEK. The Crescent and the Rose. Imperial Ottoman Silk and Velvets, London, 2001, pp. 56-57, pl.16). That textile is said to have been woven for as part kiswa, displaying a larger band of thuluth inscriptions on a midnight ground, flanked above and below by crimson-red panels with inscriptions in golden-yellow. A further 16th century panel in the Topkapi Palace Museum (inv.no. 13⁄1515, see Atasoy, op. cit., pp.52-53, pl.14) is also woven in a comparable technique and palette to the present lot. A decorative scheme of cloudbands and scrolls dominate that panel, reminiscent of the charming cloud band that wraps around the mim terminal at the centre of the panel. It is, therefore, possible that our panel would have formed part of a similar tomb covering, perhaps as an element of the border to a larger inscription panel.
The Throne Verse is one of the most widely known Qur’anic verses, used in architecture and art of many mediums for its talismanic connotations. Khoury notes two primary reasons for the significance of the verse: the first, is that God’s Throne is the organizing principle of the universe and the point around which believers’ souls will be gathered at the Day of Resurrection, the second relates to the importance of the intercession of the Prophet on the Day of Judgment (Nuha N. N. Khoury, “The Mihrab Image: Commemorative Themes in Medieval Islamic Architecture”, Muqarnas 9, 1992, pp.11-29, p.18. While also found on secular items, given the religious significance of the verse, it was favoured in calligraphic decoration of cenotaphs, tombs and mosques.
While the exact use of this panel remains unknown, the arrangement of the thuluth calligraphy is comparable to a 16th century textile in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul (inv.no 12⁄1632, see (Nurhan Atasoy, Julia Raby, and Louise Mackie et al., IPEK. The Crescent and the Rose. Imperial Ottoman Silk and Velvets, London, 2001, pp. 56-57, pl.16). That textile is said to have been woven for as part kiswa, displaying a larger band of thuluth inscriptions on a midnight ground, flanked above and below by crimson-red panels with inscriptions in golden-yellow. A further 16th century panel in the Topkapi Palace Museum (inv.no. 13⁄1515, see Atasoy, op. cit., pp.52-53, pl.14) is also woven in a comparable technique and palette to the present lot. A decorative scheme of cloudbands and scrolls dominate that panel, reminiscent of the charming cloud band that wraps around the mim terminal at the centre of the panel. It is, therefore, possible that our panel would have formed part of a similar tomb covering, perhaps as an element of the border to a larger inscription panel.